Frozen food retailer Iceland is reportedly considering bidding for any stores rivals Sainsbury’s and Asda may be required to sell in order to complete their merger.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Iceland managing Director Richard Walker said that despite the fact that many Asda and Sainsbury’s stores would be too big for Iceland, “you can redevelop, you can carve up, you can put in neighbouring retailers alongside”
“We are looking at everything for sure … Food retail drives footfall and we are the only supermarket that is opening on retail parks.”
Food Warehouse
Iceland would seek to use the real estate for its Food Warehouse business, typically found at retail parks, which it introduced in 2014 as a result of Aldi and Lidl’s prominent expansion.
“The German discounters have been so formidable because they have the same unit, same shape and size, there are great efficiencies,” Walker said.
“It’s all about productivity. We definitely took some learnings from them.”
Not only has the frozen retailer utilised a similar use of space, but it has also introduced a variety in these stores.
Where Iceland would have mainly worked with frozen foods, its Food Warehouses offer some general merchandise and a large selection of wine.
It is expected that the Competition and Markets Authority will release its provisional findings on the deal as early as next week.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
