Co-op to open 50 new stores before Christmas
Co-op has announced it will open 50 new stores across the United Kingdom before Christmas.
The retailer, which is one of the world’s biggest consumer-owned co-operatives, said that the opening of 50 new or transformed stores before Christmas is part of its continued investment in the country’s high streets.
The opening of these stores brings the company’s total investment in new stores to over £200 million in 2024/25, with more than 200 new and transformed stores of a variety of formats and sizes being delivered over this period.
The 50 new stores planned by Co-op stretch from Devon and Cornwall to the village of Brora in the Scottish Highlands. Among them are the first permanent retailer at London’s new Brent Cross Town development, five new ‘on-the-go’ stores, and a new campus Co-op store at Lancashire University.
Stores opening before Christmas comprise a mix of new sites and re-openings following major investment. Each will offer parcel collection and delivery through Co-op’s own online shop and partners, including Just Eat, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats.
With Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget approaching, Co-op also called on the government to deliver the business-rates reform that it has promised to provide stability and confidence for small business owners and community retail.
The retailer said that certainty on business rates will be vital to sustaining investment and unlocking further growth across the sector.
“We’re investing in stores and communities right across the UK because we believe in the future of the high street. But sustained growth needs certainty,” said Co-op Group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq.
“Business-rates reform is vital if retailers – especially the 99% who run small stores – are to plan with confidence, protect jobs and keep local economies thriving.”
“Co-op is showing what’s possible when businesses commit to communities. The Government now has an opportunity in the Autumn Budget to do its part by delivering the reform that’s long been promised – giving every retailer, from small to large, the stability to invest and grow,” Khoury-Haq said.
