Talking Retail Grocery and product news for independent retailers
The company is about to trial the first Jack’s outlet in Blantyre, Glasgow, in a 2,800sq ft outlet run by Mo Razzaq which is now being transformed from a Family Shopper to the new concept.
Razzaq said today: “Jack’s is a fantastic concept and so this is an exciting opportunity for the business. Family shopper has been very successful for us but Jack’s is a great opportunity.”
The store is now being converted to the Jack’s concept and will start trading on Monday with the official opening taking place on 23 October.
The surprise move by Booker comes following a period when it has been rapidly expanding distribution of the Jack’s own-label value food range to a growing number of independent retailers.
At the start of September, 50-plus items from the range were made available to more than 900 retailers in the Tesco-owned One Stop chain.
At the end of that month, a variety of products from the Jack’s range was made available to Budgens and Londis retailers for the first time.
Jack’s was launched by Tesco in 2018 as a company-owned chain of stores with the focus on value lines to help it counter the threat posed by discounters and their aggressive pricing policies.
Since then, the Jack’s chain has grown to 12 outlets in regions including Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Merseyside, West Midlands and South Yorkshire with more being added next year.
The strategy for Jack’s, which is named after the founder of Tesco, Jack Cohen, is to offer consumers a “cost-effective” and “value-orientated” way of shopping.
Colm Johnson, managing director – retail at Booker, said: “The range of great quality Jack’s products has already proved really popular with Londis and Budgens customers in the last few weeks, so we’re delighted to now also bring the Jack’s fascia to our independent retailers for the first time.
“We know that shoppers recognise the great quality and value that Jack’s offers and we’re looking forward to seeing how they respond to this new format.”
