Costcutter

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Costcutter Supermarkets Group Ltd.
TypeLimited company
IndustryRetail
Founded1986; 35 years ago (1986)
HeadquartersDunnington, North Yorkshire, England
Number of locations
1,700[1]
Area served
ProductsGrocer's shop, convenience shops
SubsidiariesKwik Save
Websitewww.costcutter.co.uk
Previous logo used from 1986 to 2016. It is still used in Ireland
Costcutter shop in Deptford, London.

Costcutter Supermarkets Group is a business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland primarily operating as a symbol group supplier to various independently owned convenience shops and off-licences.[2] It has operations in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Poland. It encompasses both supermarkets and convenience shops. As of December 2006, Costcutter (Ireland) was owned by James A. Barry and Co.[citation needed]

The group owns the Costcutter, Mace, Supershop, and Simply Fresh brands.

History[]

Costcutter was founded in 1986, by Colin Graves.[3] As of November 2006, there were some 1,400 shops under the banner.[3] In May 2006, the majority of shops were in the United Kingdom, with 65 shops in the Republic of Ireland and 52 in Poland.[4] Many locations in the United Kingdom were formerly locations of Spar, whose owners switched to Costcutter because of cheaper fees.

Spar is still a major competitor, and has 2,535 shops in the United Kingdom, 422 shops in the Republic of Ireland, fifty shops in Poland and 13,686 overall locations worldwide in thirty two countries, including locations as far afield as Australia, South Africa, Morocco, Japan and China.

A proposed merger with Nisa-Today's collapsed in November 2006, after concerns about a cartel.[3] which were reported to the Office of Fair Trading by members of Nisa-Today's, who opposed the merger. These claims were eventually proved to be unfounded[citation needed] and no action was taken by the OFT.

Costcutter revived the Kwik Save brand in 2012, from a separate chain which had ceased trading.

In 2018, The Co-Op Group made an offer of £15M in an attempt to take ownership of Costcutter. The bid was rejected, but it was believed that the door was left open for further talks.[5] The Co-op subsequently became the sole supplier to the Costcutter group.[6]

In 2020, Costcutter built 20 pop-up stores in NHS hospitals, designed to help serve doctors and nurses who may have been unable to travel due to the Coronavirus.[7]

In December 2020, Costcutter was acquired by the wholesaler Bestway. The Co-op supply agreement continues.[8]

Outside the UK[]

In 2014, Costcutter opened eighteen shops in Jersey, Channel Islands, taking over all outlets which were owned by SPAR.[citation needed] As of September 2021, the Costcutter fascia is still present, but will have disappeared completely by the end of the year.[citation needed]

Thirteen shops merged with local retailer SandpiperCI, and are being converted one by one to their FoodHall and Checkers Xpress fascias, the first of which opened in July, and the rest are currently now being converted one by one into either shops of Food Halls or Checkers Xpress, like the rest of the Sandpiper non franchised shops.

Three shops did not merge with SandpiperCI, due to their proximity to other shops of SandpiperCI. Since the merger, the store in St Ouen initially closed, but then re opened as the third Alliance with Tesco store on the island, and the remaining two shops in St John and Green Island are now trading as yourstore, initially a chain of two stores, but now a chain of five stores.77

In Ireland Costcutter was purchased by James A. Barry and Co (Barry Group) from Vantage Wholesale, when the latter went into receivership. Barry Group are a Mallow based wholesaler, and a supplier to independent supermarkets in Ireland.[citation needed]

Logistics[]

Up until April 2011, Bibby Distribution was the logistical provider for Nisa-Today's and therefore[clarification needed] also Costcutter. From April 2011, the contract was won by DHL, who now deliver to Costcutter and Nisa shops using a new fleet of NISA branded lorries.[citation needed] They also broadcast a radio station for use in their shops called Costcutter In Tune Radio.

References[]

  1. ^ "About Us!". Costcutter. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  2. ^ "What is Costcutter?". Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Nisa's chairman to step down", Yorkshire Post, 2 November 2006
  4. ^ "Local retailers planning merger", BBC News, 10 May 2006
  5. ^ "Co-op rebuffed after £15m takeover raid on struggling Costcutter". Sky News. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  6. ^ Co-operative https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/csg
  7. ^ Nazir, Sahar. "Costcutter launches 20 pop-up stores in NHS hospitals - Retail Gazette". Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  8. ^ The Grocer https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/mergers-and-acquisitions/bestway-snaps-up-costcutter-for-undisclosed-fee/651624.article

External links[]

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