In light of Tesco’s recent results, and statement that they plan to expand their casual dining offer by opening over 100 Giraffe, Decks and Harris+Hoole outlets next year, it’s understandable that there is press speculation about Waitrose’s plans.
H&C News understands that the weekend story about plans for ‘grazing areas’ has its origins in an old, unrelated press release and, in any case, referred to areas separate from the Waitrose instore cafés.
It’s clear that coffee and casual dining areas not only attract and retain customers for the whole store, but also generate significant revenues on their own right.
But Waitrose is not revealing its plans beyond pointing out that they’ve been developing their hospitality offer for a number of years now, and continue to do so.
They now have cafés in 109 Waitrose branches, a total that has doubled in the last five years, and are continuing to open cafés.
They are also exploring the idea of having separate grazing areas but, because this is still in the trial phase, it’s not possible to say whether, where or when the concept will roll out.
Similarly, they’ve been trialling wine tasting areas in the Kingston, Cambridge and Keynsham branches – the latter also recently opened with a food platter offer from the deli counter.
So – no answers, but keep a sharp eye out for developments at your local Waitrose!