Willys opens new store in Lidingö

The Willys discount chain continues its growth in the Greater Stockholm with the opening of a new store in Lidingö scheduled for late 2005/early 2006. Ground-breaking took place today, 10 March, 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 Lidingö.

The store, which will be built adjacent to Södra Kungsvägen, near Dalénhallen, will have about 2,500 sq.m. of retail area. The new establishment is expected to create about 50 new jobs. "This store establishment in Lidingö has very good prospects," says Anders Strålman, President of Willys AB. "Currently there are no discount stores in Lidingö, and the people living there pay among the highest prices in Sweden. We will make a radical change to this." 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 offers 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. 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 Lars-Åke Johansson, Axfood AB, tel +46-70-699 12 53 Bodil Hornbäk, Public Relations, Willys AB, tel +46-702-99 50 29 Additional information: www.axfood.se and www.willys.se