Stores

easier for Meeting customers’ needs isn’t just about products on shelves, it’s about providing consistent, friendly, easy-to-shop facilities, such as coffee shops, in-store dry cleaners, crèches, pharmacies and family parking

18 plc Annual Report and Accounts 1999 everyone Stores

➔ So much to offer We provide a wide range of facilities and services. Dry cleaners, pharmacies and petrol stations all in one location make sense. Serve-over meat and fish counters with specially trained staff, ensure our customer service is second to none

Specialist Departments 1998 1999 2000 (Est.) Coffee shops 203 226 240 Petrol stations 158 170 181 Pharmacies 93 107 117 Crèches 79 102 117 Dry cleaners 93 100 106

Making the most of a partnership to roll-out in-store banks. At the end of the Our joint venture with BP to develop a year we had 10 in-store branches and we Partnerships & new offer on petrol plan to open another 20 by April 2000. stations is growing fast. In July, following Facilities by Helen successful trials on 7 sites, we announced Buck, Director of the roll-out of our new convenience store Through our joint venture with Fitzwilton, concept to 100 BP forecourts over the next we have made significant progress in Stores Marketing three to four years, creating over 2,000 building Safeway’s presence in Northern Making shopping easier new jobs. Ireland. We opened three new superstores means continuing to By the end of March 1999, we had at , and . improve both stores and opened a total of 10 stores, each offering Our conversion programme is nearly customer service. This year more than 3,000 product lines, including complete with one extension opening this we will open 12 new a wide range of fresh produce, meat and summer. We will then have 12 stores, with stores, extend 6 more and dairy products. We are aiming to open 35 an average size of 27,000 square feet, seven carry out 33 major refits. more stores this year. of them with crèches, five with petrol As we extend and refit stores, wherever stations and 10 with integral beer, wine possible we try to add the range of extra All round financial gains and spirit aisles. We closed stores at facilities which we offer and customers Our financial services partnership with Portadown, Londonderry, Armagh, and increasingly expect. In addition to the Abbey National is also going well. The at Lisburn this April, which were not specialist departments listed above, at the Safeway Direct Savings Account, which has trading well. end of March we had serve-over meat regularly featured in ‘best buy’ league We beat our target of sourcing counters in 128 stores and 93 wet-fish tables, celebrated its first anniversary in products worth £200 million from Irish counters. This year we’ll add another 24 January with £1 billion in deposits (against suppliers nine months ahead of schedule. meat and 20 wet-fish counters. an initial annual target of £400 million). In addition, we opened a distribution In April of this year we became the first depot at Larne and a regional office in to launch a CAT standard Dundonald. Cash Mini ISA. Meanwhile we continue

20 Safeway plc Annual Report and Accounts 1999 ➔ Easi-Order With IBM, we have developed Easi-Order, a palm-sized organiser through which you can order your groceries from anywhere

Customers at Basingstoke are now testing The Board of this technology. Linked to our ABC New Technology by database, the electronic organiser gives plc customers personalised suggestions and Day to day operational management is conducted Mike Winch, promotions based on their previous through the Safeway Stores Board orders, as well as information on new IT Director products, special offers and recipes. Colin Smith, Chief Executive (Age 52; 20 years’ service) For the past two years we Whether at home, at work or on the Simon Laffin, Finance have been trialling our move, customers can select their choice of (Age 39; 9 years’ service) ‘Collect and Go’ home groceries, and choose what day and time Roger Partington, Customer ordering service in our they want to pick up their shopping. Development (Age 43; 5 years’ service) Basingstoke store and They then plug the device straight into Gordon Wotherspoon, Property and learning a great deal a telephone line. The order is sent to Development (Age 51; 29 years’ service) about it in the process. Safeway’s Collect and Go computer. The John Kinch, Company Secretary Shortly before Christmas, in partnership goods are then collated in store and (Age 55; 27 years’ service) with IBM, we launched the world’s first packed ready for collection. Lawrence Christensen, Logistics personalised remote shopping service This initiative effectively bridges the (Age 55; 25 years’ service) which allows customers to use a hand-held gap between our self-scanning system, Ian Fraser, Trading device to order their groceries from Shop and Go (now in 166 stores) and our (Age 42; 10 years’ service) wherever they are! This device is a palm- Collect and Go home ordering service. Roger Ramsden, Brand Marketing sized electronic organiser called ‘Easi- We can now deliver an intelligent, portable (Age 39; 4 years’ service) Order’. Customers select their weekly shopping service uniquely designed for Richard Williams, Supply Chain Strategy groceries from individually tailored, each individual customer’s needs. What’s and Human Resources (Age 42; 8 years’ service) computerised shopping lists compiled more, you don’t need a PC – it’s faster from their own usual weekly shopping and easier than the Internet! Mike Winch, Information Technology (Age 54; 15 years’ service) purchases. It also doubles as a fully- functioning personal organiser.

Safeway plc Annual Report and Accounts 1999 21 Stores

22 Safeway plc Annual Report and Accounts 1999 ➔ More than just a store Safeway New Store Openings 1999 Plymstock Safeway has many facilities Opening date Sales area (sq ft) all under one roof – a crèche, fresh Bideford June 28,700 meat and fish counters, film Cookstown (N. Ireland) August 28,700 processing and a coffee shop Towcester August 18,000 Alloa September 26,800 Plymstock September 28,200 Denbigh October 18,000 Lutterworth October 18,000 Cramlington November 29,800 Omagh (N. Ireland) November 28,000 Annan November 12,000 Chester December 30,000 Chapel-en-le-Frith December 18,300 Arbroath February 26,800 Longridge February 12,000 Hedon February 15,000 Newton-le-Willows March 18,000 Downpatrick (N. Ireland) March 26,500 Total: 17 stores 382,800 Average size 22,500

Planned Safeway New Store Openings 2000 Sales area (sq ft) Stone 22,800 Welshpool 15,300 Ryton 14,000 Dinnington 18,000 Meltham 15,000 Stratford 28,200 Barnard Castle 15,000 Brecon 18,000 Inverness 37,400 Greenock 28,700 Bath 25,000 Edinburgh (Moredun) 28,700 Total: 12 stores 266,100 Average size 22,200