Willys opens new "Super-Willys" store in Täby
The Willys discount chain continues its growth in the Greater Stockholm area with the opening of a new store in Täby scheduled for early 2006. Ground-breaking took place today, 13 April, for a store that will further strengthen Willys' presence in Stockholm. Willys currently has 14 stores in the Greater Stockholm area, but this will be the first in Täby.
The store, which will be built at the Arninge shopping centre, will have about 4,500 sq.m. of retail area and a total area of 6,000 sq.m. The new establishment is expected to create about 50 new jobs. "Currently there are no discount stores in Täby, where food prices are high. We will change this," says Anders Strålman, President of Willys AB. "Super-Willys" has a broader product offering including non-food items like electronics, textiles and toys. Willys' business concept, Sweden's cheapest bag of groceries, has been extended to the price profile of these new product categories as well. The trend in the retail food market is moving towards one-stop shopping. "Super-Willys" is an effort to meet this demand in the discount segment. By providing access to attractively priced electronics, textiles, toys, etc., Willys aims to create a practical and convenient discount store where shoppers can find just about any household item. Willys plans to open 15 “Super-Willys” the years to come. Willys is today Sweden’s largest discount food chain, with a wide range of products and a special focus on fresh products such as fruits and vegetables, meats, and dairy products. The stores have an offering of some 7,500 items, covering 95% of consumers’ annual food purchases. Willys aims to offer Sweden’s lowest grocery prices. The main factor behind the low prices is that the stores are run highly efficiently with low overhead. This efficiency is achieved, among other things, through purchases of large volumes by a central purchasing organization. Willys’ goal is to increase the number of stores in Stockholm. This autumn a “Super-Willys” is set to open at Heron City, Kungen kurva, and around year-end another Willys store will open in Lidingö. Today Willys has 14 stores in the Greater Stockholm area, and the chain has 92 stores in all. One target is to have 120 wholly owned stores by 2008. Axfood also has 45 Willys hemma stores, which is a chain of small discount stores. For further information, please contact: Anders Strålman, President, Willys AB, tel +46-708-37 88 37 Rolf Stenquist, Axfood AB, tel +46-70-528 27 83 Bodil Hornbäk, Public Relations, Willys AB, tel +46-702-99 29