Waitrose, the John Lewis Partnership-owned grocer, is to spend more than£130 million on refurbishing, extending and modernising its entire store portfolio.
The investment programme - the largest ever authorised by John Lewis Partnership for a single project - was sanctioned last week and will enable Waitrose to up the ante in the hard-fought supermarket sector.
Over the next four years, approximately a third of Waitrose's 143 stores will be extended to allow the introduction of fuller ranges across key categories.
New checkout systems will go into stores, and a new corporate identity - unveiled at Mill Hill, North London, a fortnight ago - will be rolled out.
Waitrose selling and marketing director Mark Price said that home shopping service WaitroseDeliver and self-scanning system Quick Check will also go into more stores.
Waitrose will continue to open new shops and plans approximately nine new stores next year.
Price said: 'We've taken punches from all the competition over the past few years with the likes of Sainsbury's and Safeway spending heavily on stores, but we've been able to stand up to them. Now it's our turn.'
Price said overall sales for Waitrose were up 10 per cent for the first 19 weeks of the financial year, and like-for-like sales were ahead by 5 per cent.
Teather & Greenwood analyst Dave Stoddart said: 'Waitrose has realised that if you don't invest in anything, whether it be pricing, promotions or, in this case, refurbishment, you could lose out in sales growth. You have to keep your stores looking fresh.'
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