HOMEBASE is closing ten stores, and a major supermarket is set to take over the affected sites.
Sainsbury’s has agreed to acquire all affected shops.
It comes just weeks after Homebase’s owner was understood to be gearing up to launch a sale of the company
The stores are expected to change hands next month, potentially leaving a number of Homebase employees at risk of redundancy.
The supermarket chain has said that it will convert all stores into new Sainsbury’s sites.
According to the retailer, once they are converted, the shop floor area of the stores will range from approximately 15,000 to 40,000 square feet and will add a total of around 235,000 square feet to our supermarket trading space.
The acquisition of the stores and refit programme to follow is expected to cost Sainsbury’s £130million.
The Homebase stores Sainsbury’s is acquiring are located in:
Sutton Coldfield
Bromsgrove
Cromer
Derry/Londonderry
Fareham
Inverurie
Lowestoft
Newark
Omagh
Rugby
Simon Roberts, chief executive officer of Sainsbury’s, said: “Sainsbury’s food business continues to go from strength to strength as we push ahead with our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan.
“We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitors and driving consistent growth in volume market share.
“We want to build on this momentum which is why we are growing our supermarket footprint.
“Our ambition is to be customers’ first choice for food and these new stores will showcase some of the best that Sainsbury’s supermarkets have to offer to even more communities around the country.”
HISTORY OF HOMEBASE
1979: Homebase was founded by the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and Belgian retailer GB-Inno-BM
April 1981: The first store opened in Croydon
October 1981: The second store opened in Leeds
1989: Homebase opened its 50th store in Norwich
1995: The chain boasted 82 stores and Sainsbury’s acquired all 241 Texas Homecare stores
1996-1999: All Texas Homecare stores were converted into the Homebase format
2001: Sainsbury’s sells Homebase but retains a 17.3% minority stake until 2002
2006: Homebase operated as a subsidiary under the Home Retail Group from October 2006 until 2016
February 2016: Australian retailer Wesfarmers owner of the Bunnings brand, purchased Homebase for £340million
February 2018: Wesfarmers reported losses relating to the takeover of £57million in the year to June 2017, and soon decided to implement a review of the business
May 2018: Hilco bought the hardware store chain for just £1
2018-2024: Homebase has closed 106 stores since it was taken over by Hilco Capital
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