"to sell the best quality goods in shops staffed by first class assistants" |
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| Type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Supermarket |
| Founded | 1847[1] 1896 (incorporated) |
| Founder(s) | Edwin Henry Booth |
| Headquarters | Ribbleton, Preston, England, UK |
| Number of locations | 28 retail stores in Northern England |
| Key people | Edwin J. Booth (Chairman) John Vandermeer (Finance Director) Andrew Rafferty (IT Director) Jacqueline Lunardi (HR Director)[2] |
| Products | Food, beverage & tobacco retailing |
| Revenue | £270.32m (2011)[2] |
| Operating income | £9.41m (2011)[2] |
| Profit | £5.74m (2011)[2] |
| Owner(s) | Booth family members & staff |
| Employees | 3,093[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Booths (Lytham) Ltd Booths (St Annes) Ltd Booths (Penrith) Ltd[2] |
| Website | www.booths.co.uk |
Booths is a chain of supermarkets in Northern England. Most of its branches are located in Lancashire, but there are also branches in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Booths is targeted at the middle class market and competes on quality as opposed to just value. It has been developed on the motto "to sell the best quality goods in shops staffed by first class assistants".
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E.H. Booth & Co. Ltd was founded in June 1847 when 19-year-old tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth opened a shop called The China House in Blackpool. In 1863, he added the sale of wines and spirits, and branches were opened in Lytham in 1879 and Blackburn in 1884. The business was incorporated as a private limited company in 1896.[1]
Edwin's son John opened cafes in the stores in 1902 and invited all staff to become shareholders in 1920.[3] It has remained owned by the Booth family and staff ever since, comprising over 250 shareholders in 2011 and with no individual having more than 12% of the total shares.[4] The current chairman, Edwin J. Booth, is the fifth generation.
In a feature article[5] in The Guardian in 2008, David Webster, the former chairman and co-founder of Britain's Safeway chain (which had sold out to Morrisons in 2004), said that he had tried to buy out Booths several times over the years, as did several of his rivals, adding "one thought Booths would have disappeared ages ago but it jolly well hasn't. It is obviously doing an outstanding job for its customers".
From humble beginnings as a tea shop in Blackpool, Booths grew into the first chain of supermarkets in the area, and even though it has now been eclipsed by bigger supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury's, it boasted 29 stores across the region in 2011.[6]
In 2006, Booths achieved second place in the list of the World's Greatest Food Retailers.[7] The panel of top designers, architects, analysts, journalists, suppliers and retailers was brought together by national trade publication, The Grocer, and asked to rank their favourite food retailers from anywhere in the world. They were impressed by the quality of the company’s offer, its focus on local sourcing and head for innovation. Simon Bell, retail director of foodservice firm Leathams, voted Booths’ Chorley store first above Selfridges in London. He applauds its excellent customer service, knowledge of products and friendly staff.[8]
In June 2005, the current Chairman, Edwin J Booth, was awarded the BITC (Business in the Community) Prince of Wales Ambassador Award for North West England. This is given to individuals whose leadership and commitment to responsible business practice and the actions they have taken personally have created a positive impact both inside their company and on the wider society.
A new head office was custom built and opened in early 2006. It is in Ribbleton, Preston and includes a wealth of environmentally friendly features, such as using rainwater to flush the toilets.
In 2008, Booths and Waitrose, which share similar policies on food quality and customer service, formed a buying alliance allowing the companies to benefit from larger economies of scale.[9]
Booths and Waitrose, along with small independent shops, are now the exclusive stockists of the Duchy Originals range of products, after Waitrose agreed an exclusive agreement in September 2009. The products were rebranded as Duchy Originals from Waitrose at the beginning of August 2010.
The company's stores are spread over the following locations:
Although the company has recently closed its Leyland, Penwortham (Liverpool Road), South Shore, Lytham (Market Square) stores, and its oldest store in St. Annes,[10] it is also opening new stores. In January 2009 the chain announced[11] it was to take a unit in the proposed redeveloped Square shopping centre in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester. Locations for future stores are also believed to include Hesketh Bank and Burscough.[12][13] Peel Media has submitted a planning application on behalf of Booths for a 23,000 sq ft (2,100 m2) store in Salford Quays. It is expected to be complete by 2011.[14] Construction work started in Autumn 2010 on a new store in Penrith.
A new store in Barrowford is due to open in 2013.
The Artisan speciality food shop and restaurant is a recent development by Booths. The first one was located at the Kendal store, its range is mainly local produce from small producers.[15] The second opened in 2007 at the Haven Road store in Lytham.[16]
Booths has largely concluded re-branding the company. This has involved replacing the former 'Booths the grocer' image, based on green and orange; with a newer look, based upon wine, lavender, olive and saffron colours.
This has included a new store logo, new uniforms, redesigned carrier bags, and new look packaging on products to incorporate the new colours.
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