A focus for many UK supermarkets this year is to expand their store estates and improve the shopping experience for customers across the country.

As plans to open new sites are well underway, from superstores to convenience stores, we round up eight grocers that are ramping up their property portfolios in 2025.

Co-op is planning to open 75 new stores this year across the UK as part of its commitment to accelerate growth in the convenience sector.

Among the new sites will be up to 25 Co-op estate stores, with the first to open in early 2025 at The Anchorage, Salford Quays and East Benton, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

In addition, Co-op is targeting up to 50 new franchise stores this year.

The grocer is also continuing to look for new freehold and leasehold space as it maintains its momentum in convenience.

Co-op managing director Matt Hood says: “We want everyone to have easy and convenient access to a Co-op store, wherever they live, and this year we are completely focused on achieving that through an ambitious and exciting new stores strategy.

“Our stores play an active role in local life, and are often a community hub, providing the products and services our members and customers want and need.”

Aldi is set to invest around £650m across Britain in 2025, including the development of new stores in Fulham Broadway in London, Billericay in Essex, and Cheadle in Stoke-on-Trent.

Overall, Aldi is targeting around 30 new store openings this year.

The discount grocer is also set to continue its expansion in Scotland, with plans to invest more than £40m over the next two years.

In 2025, the discount grocer will be opening three new stores in Arbroath, Baillieston and Kirkintilloch.

Aldi UK and Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley says: “At Aldi, our unwavering commitment has always been to provide Britain with the best value groceries. The demand for our unbeatable prices is now at an all-time high, which gives us the confidence to continue investing in Britain to provide greater access to our award-winning products at the lowest prices.

“We recognise that there are still areas without an Aldi store, so our expansion plans for 2025 are designed to address some of these gaps as we work towards our long-term goal of 1,500 UK stores.”

Lidl is set to open eight new stores at the beginning of 2025, to be followed by around 40 more in the next financial year.

It follows the opening of ten new stores in the final months of 2024 in locations including Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Ipswich, and Hoxton.

Lidl chief development officer Richard Taylor says the new store openings “highlights the incredible momentum” behind the discounter’s expansion.

Last August, Sainsbury’s acquired 13 new supermarkets in key target locations from Homebase and Co-op. These acquisitions, when combined with the grocer’s organic store opening programme, mean the grocer is targeting the launch of around 20 new supermarkets within the next 12 to 15 months.

The first of these stores are expected to open in the first quarter of the new financial year.

In addition, Sainsbury’s will add approximately 400,000 sq ft of supermarket trading space to its footprint. These expansion will bring more than 600,000 more people within a 10-minute drive of Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

The grocer also expects to open around 25 new convenience stores per year.

Waitrose is planning to open more smaller 3,000 sq ft sites in 2025 and is eyeing opportunities for larger convenience stores around double that size as part of a pledge to invest £1bn in 100 new convenience stores over the next five years.

Waitrose is also targeting further new locations under its franchise with Welcome Break, with stores having opened on the A14 in Spaldwick, Cambridgeshire last month and on the M1 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire as part of the operator’s new motorway services in January. A third location will open this year, with more planned if successful.

While the retailer has partnered with Welcome Break since 2009 and currently trades Little Waitrose from 27 of its motorway service areas, the new stores will be the first it has opened with the operator in eleven years.

Additionally, Waitrose has now reached more than 100 Shell forecourt shops it supplies throughout the UK, with plans to add further new locations in 2025.

Waitrose executive director James Bailey says: “Through new store openings and strategic partnerships we will continue to evolve our shops to get better and better, whilst reaching new locations that help bring Waitrose great quality, service and value closer to more customers.”

Tesco has unveiled plans to open more than 150 Express stores over the next three years as it looks to expand its convenience footprint.

The move will create more than 2,000 jobs in local communities across the UK and comes as the supermarket giant celebrates the 30th anniversary of Tesco Express, which now operates a total of 2,704 convenience stores.

This year, Asda’s focus remains on new convenience sites, specifically looking at urban centres and major cities for these locations, building on the around 600 convenience stores opened by the supermarket giant since 2022.

Planning will also continue for Asda’s larger format developments such as Park Royal, while its Plymouth store is in the earlier stages.

Last year, Morrisons unveiled plans to open 400 more of its Morrisons Daily convenience stores as part of plans to take on Aldi and Lidl, with a goal of hitting a total of 2,000 smaller stores in 2025.

Convenience has remained an “important and strongly growing” channel for the retailer, bolstered by the completion of the McColl’s conversion programme, which has led to over 1,600 Morrisons Daily convenience stores operating across the country.