Sainsbury’s Unveils Major Store Revamp with Service Closures
Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, has announced a significant transformation of its in‑store services, signalling the end for three key counters across its branches by the early summer. The retailer confirmed that its remaining patisserie, hot food, and pizza counters will all close as part of its latest strategy update, released alongside its financial results for the year ending March 1, 2025.
The recent decision follows on from Sainsbury’s earlier move to withdraw all of its in‑store cafés, a change that, according to the company, led to the loss of approximately 3,000 jobs. At the time, this represented around 2% of Sainsbury’s workforce of 148,000. In statements accompanying the latest announcement, Sainsbury’s leadership emphasised that these steps are part of ongoing efforts “to simplify the business” and to respond to what it described as a “particularly challenging cost environment”.
Instead of the familiar fresh food counters, Sainsbury’s stores will now relocate the most popular patisserie, hot food, and pizza items directly to the aisles. This transition is intended to retain customer favourites while eliminating the costlier overheads associated with manned counters. To further modernise its food offering, the supermarket is preparing to launch “On the Go” hubs. These new-style counters, set to debut in the autumn, will provide customers with flexible hot food options, hoping to better meet the changing demands of shoppers seeking speed and convenience.
In an update to customers and stakeholders, Sainsbury’s explained: “In January, we announced a number of propositional changes to food services in our stores in order to drive growth and availability at a reduced cost to serve, allowing us to create further space to offer more fresh food ranges.” The communications stated that by early summer, all patisserie, hot food, and pizza counters will be closed, but their best-selling products would be available on shop shelves.
The changes reflect ongoing broader shifts within the UK supermarket sector, where consumer habits, cost pressures, and market competition – notably from discounters – have prompted a dramatic rethink of traditional grocery offerings. Sainsbury’s also reported that it is converting its existing scratch bakeries to a “bake-off” format, which brings in partially baked items to finish in-store. The aim is to improve quality, availability, and value throughout the trading day.
Plans to introduce the “On the Go” hubs are presented as a positive evolution in Sainsbury’s approach, with the company describing the new service as delivering “an improved customer experience.” The supermarket asserts that such initiatives, alongside operational streamlining, will support a key goal: achieving £1 billion in cost savings by March 2027.
Chief Executive Simon Roberts commented: “We’ve transformed our business over the past four years. We have created a winning combination of value, quality and service that customers love, investing £1 billion in lowering our prices.” He highlighted that recent efforts have translated into the supermarket’s highest market share gains in more than a decade, with more customers choosing Sainsbury’s for their main grocery shop.
Roberts further underlined Sainsbury’s focus on maintaining its strong competitive position: “We are committed, above all else, to sustaining the strong competitive position we have built – consistently giving customers the great value they have come to expect from Sainsbury’s – and we expect to continue to outperform the market.” He also pointed to the supermarket’s expanded price-matching initiatives and the success of the Nectar loyalty scheme as signs of ongoing customer satisfaction.
Looking ahead, Sainsbury’s pledges continued investment in new and innovative products, as well as partnerships with farmers and suppliers to promote resilience and sustainability across the UK’s food system. While the removal of popular counters will no doubt be noticed by regular shoppers, the supermarket insists these changes are vital for cementing its place at the forefront of a rapidly evolving retail sector.