Sainsbury's Freezer Centres was a former frozen food chain, operated by the then-largest UK supermarket chain (now the second largest supermarket chain)

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

. The company decided to open the shops in response to competition from specialist frozen food chains, such as

Bejam Bejam was a British frozen food retailer founded by John Apthorp in 1968, based in Stanmore. History In 1968, the concept of selling only frozen foods was a novel idea at the time, and Bejam grew out of Apthorp's existing family business of ' ...

. It also allowed Sainsbury's to make use of its valuable freehold counter service stores (that were too small for conversion to self-service). The first shop opened at Southbourne near Bournemouth in 1974. It was not an immediate success as many of the elderly residents living in the area did not own a

freezer A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...

. Only 11% of households at that time owned freezers. Nine other branches that followed suit in that year, however, had greater success. They sold about 3,000 lines, many with deep discounts. In 1975, new build stores or refurbished ones had frozen food departments built into them. Chippenham was the first branch to have this integrated. By 1980, there were 21 freezer centres, and by 1982, 49% of households owned a freezer. Sainsbury's sold Sainsbury's Freezer Centres to Bejam in 1986. In 1989, Bejam became part of the

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

chain.

References

Sainsbury Archive: Sainsbury's Freezer Centres

External links

J Sainsbury plcSainsbury's
{{Convenience stores Sainsbury's Retail companies established in 1974 Defunct supermarkets of the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links