BHS department stores start selling food.Sir Philip Green announced this week the launch of new supermarket competitor BHS Food, promising to undercut rivals on branded goods by 10 per cent.
I went through to check out the new BHS food store concept at Staines this morning. It had its grand opening yesterday. A section of the store has been set aside for branded products such as bread and cakes, frozen items and soft drinks.
This morning (Friday) there were a cluster of senior executives in the Staines store making sure their new venture was going to get the best possible start. I had an exclusive opportunity of asking Sir Philip Green and his team some important questions.
They confirmed to me that Staines has had a great start. #BHSfood Sir Philip suggested I check with the shoppers on their opinion of the new food boys about town and their new food store. I asked five shoppers did they think it was a success? I got a 100% yes answer. It was no wonder it was so positive – with great opening offers such as 400 gms of strawberries being offered for only a £1. Even the ‘bubbly’ check out girl told me she had taken home two punnets the night before. Better still the strawberries were really top drawer – I demolished them at lunchtime. Getting the ‘Green’ light on 10% cheaper foods
On location they told me they selected Staines because of its proximity to the established food stores. The management at M&S and Waitrose Staines must be frantically rushing around trying to counter the various offers the BHS guys are now hammering home in Staines.
My final question about the future was quickly answered by Sir Philip with “We will be opening our new food stores at the rate of one a week” by Sir Philip. Another executive jumped in to tell me there is another one opening next week. The retailer is set to trial the service in up to 150 stores in the coming months ahead of making it a permanent addition within 50 outlets by the end of 2014.
Wow! What a fantastic reaction to our 1st Food Store – pop in for great value groceries and better than half price offers! #Staines #BHSfood
— BHS UK (@BHS_UK) March 28, 2014
One point which is important for this BHS Food trial . Being 10% less than the competitor (Tesco) is admirable. The main supermarkets put a 5%+ price increase (with the exception of ASDA) on their products in a convenience shop. A problem exists in terms of weekly shops etc. BHS City locations do not help. It will be interesting to see how they tackle this problem / opportunity. They probably will have no choice but to focus on the convenience sector. 
I suggest that the presence of Sir Philip and his senior management team at Staines this morning would very much confirm their determination to the win a big chunk of this interesting supermarket price war. As Sir Philip said earlier this week…
“There’s no point in opening up and getting torn apart because we haven’t got competitive prices. “We know what we’re going into – the most competitive food landscape for some time. “On the basis that everyone is going into the high street and convenience, maybe it’s an opportunity. “If you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t win the lottery.”
BHS today launched their convenience food offering in their Staines store today. Was passing so had a quick look in.. pic.twitter.com/GH40xOiazw — Tom Howard (@tr_howard) March 27, 2014