Sainsbury's has announced that it will be purchasing 10 stores from Homebase and converting them into big supermarkets.

The UK’s second-largest supermarket chain after Tesco, said the first of its new shops would open next summer. 

The complete set, including stores in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, will employ 1,000 people and Homebase workers at risk of redundancy will be guaranteed an interview.

The British home improvement retailer currently has one store in the county, in Ledbury's New Mill Industrial Estate. The retail giant previously had a store in Hereford's Three Elms Road, before its closure.

Damian McGloughlin, the managing director of Homebase, wrote to suppliers on Thursday (August 29) to say it was trading “behind where we planned to be” and would begin an “active sale process” to seek new investment next week, The Guardian reports.

Which Homebase stores will be bought by Sainsbury's?

The locations of the Homebase stores Sainsbury's will be buying are:

  • Birmingham Sutton Coldfield
  • Bromsgrove
  • Cromer
  • Derry
  • Fareham
  • Inverurie
  • Lowestoft
  • Newark
  • Omagh
  • Rugby

The converted shops will add a total of around 235,000 square feet to Sainsbury’s’ supermarket trading space.

It added that the first of these shops is expected to open as a supermarket next summer, with plans to complete all the conversions by the end of 2025.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of the supermarket group, said: “Sainsbury’s food business continues to go from strength to strength as we push ahead with our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan.

“We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitors and driving consistent growth in volume market share.

“We want to build on this momentum which is why we are growing our supermarket footprint.

“Our ambition is to be customers’ first choice for food and these new stores will showcase some of the best that Sainsbury’s supermarkets have to offer to even more communities around the country.”

The expansion comes five years after Sainsbury’s closed 15 large supermarkets and dozens of Argos stores after discounters Aldi and Lidl stepped up expansion in the UK, putting pressure on traditional chains.

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The Guardian reports that Homebase's current owners Hilco tried to sell the brand four years ago and reportedly put it back on the market this spring.

The DIY chain was created by Sainsbury's in 1979 and sold off by the supermarket in 2006.

After the sale of the 10 stores, it will shrink to just over 130 outlets, almost half the 250 it had when Hilco bought it for £1 from the Australian retail group Wesfarmers in 2018.