Booths to boost sales with new own-brand

Sales increased 5.8% to £269m, while like-for-likes strengthened in the year to April 3, up 2.9%. Like-for-likes for the previous year rose just 0.6%.

Booths said it benefited from keeping operating costs under control and through its buying alliance with Waitrose, which continued to deliver cost savings.

Although the grocer already stocks own-brand food products the new Booths Everyday line includes non-food items for the first time.

Own-label sales account for less than 25% of its total sales but it aims to grow this figure to the mid-30s, according to Booths trading director Chris Dee. He said the refocus on own-label was designed to appeal to customers seeking value, and includes frequently purchased products across every category, from laundry powder and clingfilm to baked beans and tinned tomatoes.

Dee said that the range was pitched at a similar level to Waitrose Essentials, rather than competing with the no-frills ranges such as Sainsbury’s Basics and Tesco’s Value. The first 100 Booths Everyday products are coming into stores now, and there are plans to add a further 250 lines from January.

Dee said Booths would also relaunch its existing mid-tier own-label range - which would continue to focus on food - but that a brand name had yet to be decided.

This brand would incorporate an expanded range of Booths Ready To Cook ready meals, which the retailer now manufacturers in-house.

Booths has 25 stores. A 26th will open in Hesketh Bank, Lancashire, on November 11. The grocer plans two store openings in 2011, in Barrowford, Lancashire, as well as Salford’s Media City, which will be home to the new BBC offices.