The supermarket giant Iceland is squaring up to the German giants Aldi and Lidl, with plans to open two giant new ‘The Food Warehouse’ supermarkets in Suffolk.
The frozen food chain Iceland already has its own branded stores in the Sailmakers Shopping Centre in Ipswich, as well as supermarkets in Sudbury, Felixstowe, Bury Saint Edmunds, Harwich and Haverhill.
But The Food Warehouse, which is a trading arm of Iceland, is a different sort of offering, as it’s a mixture of the cash-and-carry format and the established Iceland style.
All of Iceland’s Food Warehouse stores are between 10,000 sq ft and 27,000 sq ft, which is double the size of Iceland’s regular stores.
Iceland has plans to open a larger Food Warehouse store on Euro Retail Park in Ipswich in June, and it has just revealed that another Food Warehouse is in the pipeline for Ipswich too, to be built at Suffolk Retail Park.
At the moment, the only Food Warehouse supermarket in Suffolk can be found in Lowestoft, at North Quay Retail Park.
“The Euro Retail Park store is likely to be the first of the two stores to open, and this is currently scheduled for June,” explained Iceland’s director of corporate affairs, Keith Hann. “We are planning to open one of our larger The Food Warehouse stores on Suffolk Retail Park later this year. We will be able to confirm opening dates and supply further information nearer the time.”
MORE: German supermarket wars: Find out who is gaining territory in Suffolk and North EssexIceland has a portfolio of more than 70 Food Warehouse stores created nationwide since its launch in 2014.
Other occupiers of the Ransomes Euro Retail Park include B&M, B&Q, Dreams, Halfords, Sports Direct and Carpetright – and there are 550 car parking spaces for customers.
And at Suffolk Retail Park, on London Road, The Food Warehouse store will join other stores including Argos, Next and the Range. They will be competing in this area with Sainsbury’s and also Lidl, the German supermarket chain which, along with Aldi, has recently also announced a flurry on new stores in the pipeline for our region.
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