Waitrose
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Waitrose is a British supermarket chain owned by the John Lewis Partnership. It trades mainly in London and the South East of England.
Waitrose was formed in 1904 by Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor. They opened their first shop at 263 Acton Hill, West London. The company was taken over by The John Lewis Partnership in 1937 and it opened its first supermarket in 1955 in Streatham. Waitrose is an upmarket supermarket, similar to Marks and Spencer's food halls.
In 2004 Waitrose purchased 14 former Safeway stores from Morrisons in a project known as Toronto. Morrisons was obliged to sell more than fifty of Safeway's stores to meet competition regulations when it acquired Safeway, and the first batch of stores sold, and the largest group by number went to Waitrose. It was speculated that Morrisons preferred to sell to Waitrose rather than to its larger rivals.
Waitrose's profits continue to increase year on year and is known for offering many unique services such as the 'By invitation' range of products, which are made to order foods for special occasions. Waitrose also offers a wide range of other services including home delivery, a wines service, and a broadband internet service in which a proportion of the price goes to charity.
External links
- John Lewis Partnership (http://www.john-lewis-partnership.co.uk/)
- Waitrose (http://www.waitrose.com)
- Waitrose Wines Direct (http://www.waitrosedirect.co.uk)
- Waitrose Internet (http://free-isp.waitrose.com)
- Home Delivery Shopping Service (http://www.waitrosedeliver.com)