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Shoprite (Isle of Man)

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This article is about the defunct Manx and Scottish food retailer. For similarly named topics, see Shoprite.

Shoprite (Isle of Man) Limited
Company typeSupermarket
IndustryRetail (Grocery)
Founded1972
Defunct29 June 2024
FateAcquired and absorbed into Tesco
Headquarters
Little Switzerland, Douglas,
Isle of Man
Area served
Isle of Man
Scotland
Key people
Ken Murphy (Tesco CEO)
ProductsGroceries, consumer goods
OwnerTesco
Number of employees
600+[1]
Websitemanxshoprite.com

Shoprite (Isle of Man) Limited (trading as Shoprite) was a community food store chain in the Isle of Man. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Isle of Man Enterprises plc (formerly Shoprite Group plc), until Tesco announced its purchase of the business on 9 October 2023.

History

[edit]

Shoprite was established in the Isle of Man in 1972.[2] At the start of the 1990, it was solely a retail and property group. In 1990, it purchased a former distribution warehouse from Safeway in Cambuslang near Glasgow. The company announced that it would trial running a discount limited range supermarket, opening two pilot stores in November 1990. The stores were located in Linwood and Bridge of Allan, and were styled like the English discount chain Kwik Save with basic racking and no thrills offers. The business continued to grow, mainly across Scotland's central belt, with 63 stores operating by October 1993. In June 1994 the company opened its first stores in the North of England, and by October 1994 it operated 108 stores. The stores were generally converted from former car showroom and ex DIY stores, and varied between 4,000 and 13,000 square feet in size.[3]

The Head office was moved to Scotland in 1992 with aid of a Scottish Office Industry Department grant. Funding for this rapid growth was funded by sales of sideline businesses in the Isle of Man, a share issue in the stock exchange and a leaseback deal on several stores. It was estimated that Shoprite had captured 10% of the grocery market in Scotland. In May 1994, Shoprite had to release its unaudited interim results as there were rumours of poor trading performance. The results showed that sales were up 59% but profits were down, which saw the share price fall from 242p to 50p. By July, Shoprite announced a further profits warning, which resulted in its share price falling to 30p and banks suspending its borrowing rights. In October, another profit warning was released, and in November it was announced that Kwik Save had agreed to buy Shoprite's 117 Scottish and English stores for £45.7 million, with Shoprite retreating back to the Isle of Man. Shoprite's chairman, Deryck Nicholson, whose family owned 50% of the shareholding, was son of one of the founders of Kwik Save.[3][4][5][6]

Former business

[edit]
Former Shoprite, Douglas, Little Switzerland

Shoprite owned 9 supermarkets in the major communities on the Isle of Man. These stores were branded Shoprite, Little Shoprite and Winerite. The Shoprite stores were located in Douglas, Peel, Ramsey, Port Erin, and Onchan. The Little Shoprite stores were in Castletown, Peel and Ramsey. There was also a Wine warehouse in Douglas trading as Winerite Extra.[7] The community food stores in Port Erin and Peel had a Subway café.[8][9]

Shoprite Douglas was the first store in the Isle of Man to install a bar-code scanning system at its tills and the Shoprite group was the first supermarket chain in the British Isles to install bar-code scanning systems in all its stores in the early 1980s.

It has trading relationships with brands and partners such as Sainsbury's,[10] and previously Waitrose and Iceland (UK discount supermarket chain),[11] Subway,[12] Cook (UK frozen ready meal supplier),[13] Peacocks (UK "value" fashion retailer),[14] and LloydsPharmacy (UK pharmacy chain).[15]

In 2020, it announced a new long-term strategic partnership with Sainsbury's supermarkets, the 2nd largest UK retailer, to sell Sainsburys products in Shoprite stores.

In 2023, Tesco acquired all nine Shoprite shops on the Isle of Man. It was announced that stores would be rebranded under the Tesco name, increasing its store count in the Isle of Man from one to ten.[16][17]

In February 2024, Tesco announced that it would close Shoprite's Subway cafes, meaning that Subway would leave the Isle of Man.[18]

The final stores to close were Peel (Derby Road) and Winerite in Douglas which shut in June 2024.[19] The remaining supermarkets were due to be converted to Tesco format.[20][21][22][23][24]

By December 2024, all Shoprite stores (except the Douglas Winerite) had reopened as Tesco shops[25][26] to much opposition from local Peel/Foxdale residents who fondly remembered the notorious Peel Shoprite Conga of 2012. [27]

References

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  1. ^ "Our Mission". Manxshoprite.com. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Tesco purchases Isle of Man Shoprite supermarket chain". BBC News. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b Leigh Sparks (1 October 1995). "Restructuring Scottish grocery retailing: the rise and demise of Shoprite and Wm Low". International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
  4. ^ "Collapse of property deal puts Shoprite on the rack". The Herald. 15 June 1994.
  5. ^ "Kwik Save revamps Shoprite operations in a major campaign". The Herald. 27 March 1995.
  6. ^ Gilbert, Mervyn (9 November 1996). "Bowler says focus was wrong as 107 shops go". The Grocer. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  7. ^ Isleofman Dot Com. "Douglas". manxshoprite.com.
  8. ^ "Shoprite Peel". Manxshoprite.com. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Shoprite Port Erin". Manxshoprite.com. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  10. ^ Waitrose Limited. "Company history". waitrose.com.
  11. ^ "Iceland plans £100m dividend after 3-year gap". Financial Times. 24 February 2011.
  12. ^ Julie Jargon (8 March 2011). "Subway Runs Past McDonald's Chain". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. ^ "COOK - Frozen Ready Meals, Delivered Meals, Prepared Meal Delivery - COOK". cookfood.net.
  14. ^ "Home - Peacocks Corporate". Archived from the original on 19 April 2010.
  15. ^ Lloyds Pharmacy Ltd. "Lloyds Pharmacy - Online Pharmacy, Prescriptions, Chemists and Health". lloydspharmacy.com.
  16. ^ "Tesco buys all nine Shoprite supermarkets on the Isle of Man". Isle of Man Today. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Shoprite sells all nine stores to Tesco". Manx Radio. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Subway cafes to close for good this month". 3FM. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Final Shoprite stores to close at the end of the month". Manx Radio.
  20. ^ "Pictures show inside Peel's new Tesco Express". IOM Today. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Port Erin Tesco officially opens its doors". IOM Today. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Inside new Isle of Man Tesco superstore complete with coffee shop". IOM Today. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  23. ^ "Isle of Man's first Tesco Express opens its doors". IOM Today. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  24. ^ "New Tesco Express store to open in Ramsey". IOM Today. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Peel's new Tesco superstore opens".
  26. ^ "Tesco to donate £1,000 to good cause as it opens Ramsey store".
  27. ^ Benny306tv (10 November 2012). The Shoprite Conga. Retrieved 10 December 2024 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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