Waitrose

British supermarket chain owned by John Lewis Partnership

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2024 A report revealed staff at a Waitrose-supplying slaughterhouse were repeatedly striking pigs with paddles before killing them in a carbon dioxide gas chamber, with animals showing visible injuries and physical deformities.
August 2024 Waitrose announced plans to open 100 new convenience shops over the next five years, continuing its expansion in the convenience store market.
2022 Waitrose opened new retail locations in Croydon, London and Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, expanding its supermarket chain's presence in these regions.
2021 Waitrose Duchy Organic reported a profit of £3.6 million.
2021 The John Lewis Partnership continued to suspend the annual Partnership bonus for employees in the 2021 financial year, further frustrating partners during the ongoing pandemic.
June 2021 The Wolverhampton Waitrose shop was reopened as a Tesco store.
2020 Prince Charles did not renew the lease on Home Farm, but continued organic farming at Sandringham House. The new Home Farm tenant maintained the relationship with Waitrose Duchy Organic.
2020 The Independent reported animal abuse at a Yorkshire farm in the Waitrose supply chain, where goats were documented being physically mistreated, including being punched, kicked, and roughly handled on conveyor belts.
2020 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the John Lewis Partnership suspended the annual Partnership bonus for employees in the 2020 financial year, causing discontent among partners who felt their hard work was not recognized.
September 2020 Four Waitrose stores in Caldicot, Ipswich, Shrewsbury, and Wolverhampton were announced for closure, with the Wolverhampton store being sold to Tesco.
September 1 2020 Waitrose ended its relationship with Ocado, terminating the product distribution partnership and transitioning to its own delivery service.
August 2020 Waitrose announced it would cease operations with Ocado.
June 2020 Torquay Waitrose store was re-opened as a Lidl supermarket in June 2020.
March 2020 Waitrose announced expansion of its Waitrose.com online delivery service to 24 more stores across the UK in preparation for splitting with Ocado.
March 2020 Waitrose closed shops in Four Oaks, which was subsequently re-opened as an Aldi store.
March 2020 Waitrose closed its shop in Helensburgh, which was later converted to a Morrisons store.
January 2020 Teignmouth Waitrose store was re-opened as a Lidl supermarket in January 2020.
2019 Waitrose announced shop closures in multiple locations including Torquay, Teignmouth, Blaby, Barry, and Ashbourne during the spring of 2019.
2019 Waitrose closed the Colmore Row, Birmingham store, which was subsequently reopened as a Co-op.
2019 Waitrose announced twelve additional store closures across the United Kingdom.
September 2019 Waitrose closed multiple stores including locations in Bromley, Oadby, Wollaton (which was re-opened as Lidl), Sandhurst (re-opened as Aldi), Marlow in Buckinghamshire (re-opened as Lidl), Stevenage, and the Waterside building (British Airways headquarters).
2018 Waitrose closed multiple store locations including shops in Spinningfields, Manchester; Manchester Piccadilly station; Portman Square, London; and Camden Town, London.
2018 Waitrose closed four convenience shops and one supermarket in the UK as part of a strategic store reduction effort.
2018 John Lewis announced the closure of five Waitrose shops due to profitability issues.
2017 Waitrose opened new shops in Cardiff Queen Street, Hertford, Huntingdon, and Palmers Green, while also relocating the Palmers Green store to Winchmore Hill.
2017 Waitrose closed its store in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, which was re-opened as an M&S Foodhall.
2017 Waitrose closed its store in Leek, Staffordshire, which was subsequently re-opened as a Lidl store.
2016 Waitrose repackaged the mineral water as part of its Waitrose One premium range.
2016 Waitrose opened new store locations in Leeds City Centre, West Yorkshire and Tottenham Court Road, London, expanding their retail presence in key urban areas.
2016 The 'essential Waitrose' range expanded to over 2,000 items and achieved £1.1 billion in annual sales, becoming one of only five food and drink brands in Britain worth over £1 billion.
June 16 2016 Opened its most southerly branch in Truro, Cornwall, expanding its geographical reach.
2015 Over 3,000 farmers had been involved in the Duchy Future Farming programme by this year, participating in experimental organic farming research.
2015 Waitrose relocated its shop in Littlehampton to a new location in Rustington, West Sussex.
June 2015 The brand name was changed to Waitrose Duchy Organic during the summer.
February 2015 Waitrose Kitchen magazine published an advertising pamphlet titled 'Taste of Israel' which caused controversy by referring to traditional Arabic foods as Israeli, leading to a social media backlash against the company.
2014 Waitrose opened a new store location in Dartford, Kent, expanding its retail presence in the southeastern region of the United Kingdom.
2013 The Duchy Future Farming programme was established in partnership with the Soil Association to provide advice and support to UK farmers and growers in organic farming research methods.
2013 The brand had recovered, achieving annual profits of £2.8 million following the Waitrose partnership.
2013 The brand expanded internationally, selling products in 30 countries including Australia and Japan.
2013 The brand had raised a cumulative total of £11 million in charitable donations from its profits to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund.
2013 Waitrose started sponsoring the England cricket team, a sponsorship that would continue for three years until 2016.
October 23 2013 Opened its 300th shop in Helensburgh on the River Clyde, representing a milestone in the company's expansion.
January 2013 Opened its northernmost British shop in Stirling, Scotland, marking significant expansion beyond its traditional southern English territory.
2012 Duchy Originals raised over one million Canadian dollars annually for The Prince's Charities Canada through product sales.
2012 Waitrose expanded its price matching campaign, extending price guarantees to 7,000 items compared to Tesco.
2012 Partnership with Boots ended after being deemed unsuccessful, with Boots replacing Waitrose products with SuperValu chain items.
2011 Waitrose introduced its first loyalty card scheme, myWaitrose, which was unique in offering exclusive competitions and offers instead of traditional points-based rewards.
October 2011 Waitrose opened a 'Dotcom Fulfilment Centre' in Acton, West London, employing over 200 Partners to handle internet food deliveries for west and central London.
February 2011 John Lewis Pension trust divested its shares in Ocado.
2010 Arrangement with Ocado amended to a ten-year product supply agreement.

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