Co-op to Open 75 Stores in 2025
Co-op revealed plans to open 75 convenience stores across the U.K. in 2025, and to do major updates on approximately 80 stores.
Approximately 25 of the new locations will be estate, or Co-op-owned, and the remainder will be franchises.
Convenience is at the core of Co-op’s retail strategy, with its store offerings going beyond traditional groceries. Many locations also provide services designed to make them into destination and community hubs. Those include offering package collection and returns, payment services, and quick commerce destinations.
Co-op recently unveiled its own platform at shop.coop.co.uk as well as partnerships with Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo, offering extended delivery at 1,600 stores. It’s also building on its retail media, adding digital screens to its busiest urban locations.
"We want everyone to have easy and convenient access to a Co-op store, wherever they live, and this year we are completely focused on achieving that through an ambitious and exciting new stores strategy," Matt Hood, Co-op’s managing director, said in a media release. "Not only are we a membership organization owned by our 6 million members, we are experts in convenience shopping, where we combine great quality products, value and deals and ethical retailing with quick online delivery services, community participation and additional customer services.”
The move builds on 2024’s franchise growth, which included a university store, a hospital shop, gas stations (through a partnership with EG On The Move) and a Co-op at HMS Collingwood (in partnership with Emergency Security Services) to provide shopping options and service to on-site military personnel, civil servants and contractors.