Long history of Sainsbury’s in town

In today’s world of retail, it’s becoming very much a unique achievement to be a ‘survivor’ and run a sustainable and profitable business.

With scores of well known retail giants disappearing from our towns and cities in recent times, it’s actually quite a delight to hear of a success story and you don’t have to look far in the national media to find one.

To some of us it’s just a plain old supermarket chain but to others, the national treasure that is Sainsbury’s celebrates it’s 150th birthday this year, with even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in on the celebrations, as many may have seen in the news.

Sainsbury’s has ridden out many a recessional storm over the decades and has doubled - and in some cases quadrupled - in size since the early counter service stores.

Sainsbury’s was established as a partnership in 1869, when John James

Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann opened their first shop at 173 Drury Lane, Holborn, London. It started as a retailer of fresh foods and later expanded into packaged groceries such as tea and sugar.

Groceries were introduced in 1903 and by 1922, with many more shops cropping up in London and around the country, others items such as dairy, bacon and hams, poultry and game, cooked meats and fresh meats were introduced.

The shops all had a uniform design so that people would be familiar with this success story.

Today, with 1,415 stores (listed in 2017) and an operating income of £518 million (2018), things have come long way in the story of Sainsbury’s.

As far as Ashford is concerned, we are on our fourth store which opened in 1992 at the Warren Retail Park, testament to the chain’s continued commitment to Ashford. The town’s first store opened as a counter service branch in 1934.

Every time a new store has replaced another in the town, each one has become bigger and bigger. This week Remember When looks back at the presence of Sainsbury’s in Ashford on the chain’s 150th birthday.

■ Do you have any photographs or slides of Old Ashford that you would be willing to loan me, to enable them to be scanned for possible feature in the Kentish Express? Please don’t delay, get in touch!

Write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, Unit 4, Park Mall Shopping Centre, Ashford, Kent. TN24 8RY or email me rememberwhen_kmash@hotmail.co.uk

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Top: The chain’s third store in Park Street (now Wilko’s) pictured on opening day in 1978. Below: Sainsbury fourth store in Ashford, the current out of town store which has been extended since pictured here shortly after its opening in August 1992.