Waitrose rolls out new 7,000‑sq‑ft ‘Neighbourhood’ stores in UK suburbs

Waitrose is expanding a new medium‑sized store concept called “Neighbourhood”, sized at about 7,000 square feet and stocked with roughly 6,500 products. The format bridges the gap between its Little Waitrose convenience outlets and full‑line supermarkets, offering a broader fresh‑food and bakery range for shoppers doing a weekly top‑up or a full shop. Around 20 branches are already operating, with the latest opening at Chelmer Village Retail Park in Essex. Other sites include Leatherhead and Oxted (Surrey), Bromsgrove (Worcestershire), Knutsford (Cheshire) and Jesmond (Newcastle).

The rollout is part of Waitrose’s £1 billion, multi‑year investment programme that also funds 28 refurbishments and targeted expansion across formats this year. In addition to the neighbourhood stores, the retailer will open two full‑line supermarkets in Hale Barns, Manchester and Cricklewood, London in the autumn, and a 30,000‑sq‑ft store at the Brabazon development in Bristol in 2027. Further initiatives include a new Little Waitrose on Ascot High Street, new travel‑retail Relay shops at Heathrow Terminal 2, and expanded partnerships with Welcome Break and Shell forecourts. The strategy reflects a 6 % rise in My Waitrose membership and a ten‑point jump in the Net Promoter Score.