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Design is The Key for Restricted RetailersSupermarkets are obsessed with store design as legislation introduced in the mid-1990s has made it virtually impossible to open new out-of-town shops.
The same stores which, 20 years ago, wouldn't have given their design a second thought, now think nothing of spending hundreds of millions of pounds on refurbishment as their limited scope for growth means they have to squeeze every last drop from existing shops. The success or otherwise of such refurbishments is, of course, quite another matter.
Wm Morrison is thought to be spending about £250 million converting Safeway larger stores to the Morrison format after buying the supermarket group last December. This refurbishment follows a refurbishment plan at Safeway that cost about £2 million a store - and which had mixed fortunes for the group.
Consultancies that redesign the stores can charge anything between £200,000 and £1 million, depending on the size of the project.
Siemon Scamell-Katz, chairman of ID Magasin, a retail research consultancy, said: "The legislation meant that the supermarkets could no longer grow sales simply by opening more space, so they have to make the existing space work harder. They also began to introduce new store formats, which were more appropriate to the shop size and location."
A retail analyst added: "Design has become terrifica
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20/10/2004 | Viewed 12,204 time(s)
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