Iceland launches new Swift convenience format in Newcastle
Iceland has launched a trial of a new convenience supermarket format under the Swift brand in Newcastle.
Spanning 17,000 square feet, the store is situated at the former Iceland Four Lane Ends site in the Benton area of the city.
The Swift shop will offer double the range of the former small Iceland store, with nearly 3,000 lines stocked across the grocery, chilled, fresh, frozen, alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco and food-to-go categories.
Matt Downes, head of space and format development at Iceland, said: “Today’s launch is the start of a really exciting concept and we’re thrilled to be opening our first site in Newcastle. The store is located on a very busy road, next to a major Metro hub with free parking outside: it seemed the perfect location for a convenience store trial.”
Iceland said the shop features vertical refrigeration on every wall to allow or a “bigger and better” shopping experience for customers. In addition, the layout breaks down the traditional barriers between frozen and chilled food to provide a complete range of meal solutions.
Richard Walker, managing director at Iceland, said: “Swift has a focus on being fast, fresh and local. Our last ‘one store trial’ of a new store format was The Food Warehouse in 2014 and we now have 140 stores. If this trial resonates with consumers there is potential to expand it both within the existing Iceland store estate and beyond to expand our existing network of stores in almost 1000 communities across the UK.”
