Waitrose

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Supermarket
Founded	1904[1]
Founder(s)	Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose, David Taylor[2]
Headquarters	Bracknell, England, UK
Number of locations	243[3]
Area served	UK
Key people	Mark Price, Managing Director Rob Collins, Retail Director Mark Williamson, Commercial Director Tom Athron, Finance Director David Jones, Supply Chain Director Rupert Thomas, Marketing Director Kevin Berry, Systems Director Helen Hyde, Personnel Director[4]
Products	Food
Revenue	£5400.4 million[5]
Operating income	£173.5 million[5]
Net income	£123.3 million
Employees	42,900[6]
Parent	John Lewis Partnership
Website	www.waitrose.com

Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England.^[7] As of February 2012, Waitrose has over 243 branches across the United Kingdom, including 30 "little Waitrose" convenience stores, and a 4.2% share of the market, making it the 6th largest grocery retailer in the UK.

The company has a Royal Warrant to supply groceries, wine and spirits to Queen Elizabeth II.^[8] As of 1 January 2011 Waitrose has a Royal Warrant to supply groceries, wine and spirits to Prince Charles.^[9] It formerly held a Royal Warrant for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

The company has a long-term goal of opening 400 branches across the UK by 2017 and doubling its revenue to £8bn by 2016.^[10]

History[link]

Founded in 1904 by Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor, Waitrose began as a small grocery store, Waite, Rose & Taylor, in Acton, West London.^[6] In 1908, two years after David Taylor had left the business, the name "Waitrose" (a portmanteau of the remaining founders' names) was adopted. In 1937, the company, consisting of 10 stores and 160 employees, was taken over by the John Lewis Partnership.^[6]

Typical Waitrose branch in Barry Waitrose branch in Cheadle Hulme, built in 2007 was Waitrose's first purpose-built retail outlet in Northern England A Waitrose in Marlborough High Street A Waitrose in Wallingford File:Waitrose Petrol Station, Lincoln.JPG A Waitrose Petrol Station in Lincoln A Waitrose 'Community Matters' charity token.

In 1955, the chain opened its first supermarket in Streatham, London and continued to expand throughout London and the South East during the 1960s. In the 1970s, Waitrose opened branches in Hampshire, Bedfordshire, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

In 1981, counter service was introduced for fresh meat, fish and cheese, and in 1983, Waitrose became the first major supermarket chain to sell organic food.

In 2000, Waitrose purchased 11 stores from rival Somerfield.^[11]

In order for Morrisons to meet competition regulations following its acquisition of Safeway, it was required to sell 52 of the Safeway stores. The first batch of 19 stores were sold to Waitrose in 2004,^[12] and in August 2005, it purchased a further five Safeway stores. This took the firm as far north as Durham (now closed),^[13] fitting with its long term strategy to evolve into a national retailer. In December 2005, Waitrose also bought another store at Biggin Hill, Kent, from Morrison's. In July 2006, Waitrose announced it had purchased another six stores from Morrison's and also a former Safeway regional distribution centre in Aylesford, Kent.

In June 2008, Waitrose announced the acquisition of four Woolworth's store sites for conversion to Waitrose branches in Chiswick, Battersea (Clapham Junction), Edgware Road (Marylebone) and Chapel Market, Islington. All these stores are now trading.^[14]

In January 2009, Waitrose announced that they had acquired 13 sites from The Co-operative Group. One site in Melksham, Wiltshire was bought from Somerfield and opened on 18 March 2010.

The firm signed a deal with Alliance Boots which will see Boots operating branded pharmacies in some stores; in return Boots stores will sell Waitrose food products.^[15]

In September 2009, Duchy Originals, the struggling organic food business started by Prince Charles was rescued by Waitrose, who has agreed to an exclusive deal to stock the range, and to pay a small fee to charity. In return, Prince Charles has graced a number of Waitrose stores, and dined with senior Waitrose executives and their spouses.^[16] In August 2010, the Duchy range was relaunched with many new lines under the Duchy Originals from Waitrose brand.^[17]

In 2010, Waitrose announced the acquisition of five supermarkets in the Channel Islands, three on Jersey and two on Guernsey, from Sandpiper CI, subject to the agreement of regulatory authorities. Waitrose have already been supplying the stores over the last two years with over 3,000 Waitrose own label products. The stores began reopening as Waitrose from February 2011.

Wednesday 4 August 2011 Waitrose opened a new store in Littlehampton, and in October 2011, the smaller of the two Safeway stores in Canterbury was converted to Waitrose.

In October 2011, Waitrose opened a Fulfillment Center in West London as part of its Waitrose.com Online Delivery Service. Previously its online shopping services was provided by certain Waitrose Branches.

Brand and marketing[link]

The current Waitrose logo was designed by Monotype Imaging and Interbrand.^[18][19]

Advertising for Waitrose emphasises the chain's unique selling points. For example, its differences in production processes, emphasising the quality of products or the expertise of their partners (staff). Recent marketing has also attempted to portray the chain as more ethical than other supermarkets, especially with regards to Fairtrade produce.

It was announced on 20 May 2008 that Waitrose would be sponsoring Reading F.C. for the 2008–09 season.^[20]