Sainsbury's announces major closures with North Staffordshire store affected - full list
Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has announced plans to shut its remaining 61 in-store cafes in a shock move. All hot food, pizza, and patisserie counters will also close at its branches across the UK.
The closures, combined with restructuring in Sainsbury's head office, is expected to cost 3,000 people their jobs. Among the stores affected include Leek.
This decision is part of a broader strategy to save £1 billion over three years and will lead to more than 3,000 job losses. The retailer cited a reduced demand for its in-house cafes and hot food offerings as a rationale for the closures.
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Instead, Sainsbury’s plans to repurpose these spaces to expand fresh food ranges, which it says will better cater to modern shopping preferences. The decision follows Sainsbury’s closure of 200 in-store cafes in 2022, which put around 2,000 jobs at risk at the time.
Despite this move, the company retained 67 cafes, hinting then that further closures might follow. Now, with only 61 cafes remaining, Sainsbury’s has confirmed they will also be phased out.
Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s chief executive, said: “We launched our Next Level Strategy almost a year ago and are totally focused on making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day.
"As a result, we’re seeing real momentum across our business, with a best-ever value position, leading quality and increasing market share.
"As we accelerate into year two and beyond of our strategy, we are facing into a particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective.
“The decisions we are announcing today are essential to ensure we continue to drive forward our momentum but have also meant some difficult choices impacting our dedicated colleagues in a number of parts of our business. We’ll be doing everything we can to support anyone impacted by today’s announcements.”
Instead of in-house offerings, Sainsbury’s is prioritizing partnerships with external coffee shop brands such as Starbucks, which have reportedly proven more popular with customers.
Cafes will shut at the following locations:
Fosse Park, Leicestershire
Pontypridd, South Wales
Rustington, West Sussex
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Penzance, Cornwall
Denton, Greater Manchester
Wrexham, North Wales
Longwater, Norwich, Norfolk
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Pontllanfraith, South Wales
Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire
Nantwich, Cheshire
Pinhoe Road, Exeter, Devon
Pepper Hill - Northfleet, Kent
Marshall Lake, Solihull, West Midlands
Rhyl, North Wales
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Bridgemead, Swindon, Wiltshire
Larkfield, Aylesford, Kent
Whitchurch Bargates, Shropshire
Sedlescombe Road, Hastings, East Sussex
Barnstaple, Devon
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Kings Lynn Hardwick, Norfolk
Truro, Cornwall
Warren Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk
Godalming, Surrey
Hereford, Herefordshire
Chichester, West Sussex
Bognor Regis, West Sussex
Newport, South Wales
Talbot Heath, Dorset
Rugby, Warwickshire
Cannock, Staffordshire
Leek, Staffordshire
Winterstoke Road, Bristol
Hazel Grove, Stockport, Greater Manchester
Morecambe, Lancashire
Darlington, County Durham
Monks Cross, Huntington, North Yorkshire
Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon
Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Durham, County Durham
Bamber Bridge, Lancashire
Weedon Road, Northampton, East Midlands
Hempstead Valley, Kent
Hedge End, Hampshire
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Thanet Westwood Cross, Kent
Stanway, Colchester, Essex
Castle Point, Essex
Isle of Wight
Keighley, West Yorkshire
Swadlincote, Derbyshire
Leicester North, East Midlands
Wakefield Marsh Way, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Torquay, Devon
Waterlooville, Hampshire
Macclesfield, Cheshire
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Cheadle, Greater Manchester
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