Booths | Verdict Company Briefing

Booths is a regional grocery chain which has been run by five successive generations of the same family. It trades from 29 stores in northwest England and has a distinctive upmarket positioning, focusing on premium and high quality products, excellent customer service and enjoyable store environments. It has strong ties with community, priding itself on its use of local suppliers.

• Benchmark your performance in food & grocery with detailed key performance indicators across sales and space data for Booths
• As a wholesaler or supplier, identify the unique potential of Booths as a new retail partner by understanding its specialist range strategy
• Understand the store investment plans the retailer is rolling out and why expansion will take a back seat in 2013

Waitrose' plans to expand in northern England in 2013 are potentially very bad news for Booths, given their similar premium positioning and emphasis on quality, provenance and customer service. Booths is only just over a twentieth of size of Waitrose and subsequently has none of its economies of scale in buying.

Margins at Booths are under pressure as the market remains challenging. The grocer’s margins, which have already fallen from a pre-crisis peak of 4.0%, are likely to remain under pressure from the highly promotional nature of competition between the Big Four and from Waitrose’ increasing tendency to respond to it.

The grocer is offering a click & collect service for Christmas 2012, following a successful launch in 2011, and may roll it out in other periods of the year. It is also considering introducing an online offer for home delivery, but says it will not use any of the business models of other grocers.

• How will Booths continue to grow sales as competition increases in northern England?
• What are the key threats and opportunities for Booths given its upmarket positioning?
• How will Waitrose' expansion impact Booths market share?

Table of contents

OVERVIEW
Introduction
Summary
Developing niche ranges …;
… and discontinuing value;
Expansion to take a back seat in 2013;
Direct Waitrose rivalry imminent.

BOOTHS
Verdict Outlook
Maintaining differentiation will be a challenge
Recent key events
(Untitled sub-section)
Financials
Expansion set to lift sales performance
Sales and margins come under pressure from difficult retail climate
Sector performance – food & grocery
Store openings help growth
Market shares

METHODOLOGY
Verdict company briefing
Financial information
Market size calculation
Sales density calculation
Further reading
Ask the analyst
Disclaimer

TABLES
Table: Booths company information 2012
Table: Booths key operating statistics 2008–13e
Table: Booths trading record trading record 2004–13e

FIGURES
Figure: Booths logo 2012
Figure: Milnthorpe store plans 2012
Figure: Booths food & grocery sales (incl VAT) in calendar years 2008-13e
Figure: Booths share of total market held by food & grocery retailers 2008 to 2013e
Figure: Booths share of market in food & grocery products 2008–13e

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