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Tesco is pressing ahead with a major expansion of its convenience estate after buying a number of former Amazon Fresh stores in London.

Britain’s largest supermarket group plans to open more than 70 new Tesco Express outlets by March 2027, building on the 60 convenience stores it opened last year. The retailer already operates just over 2,000 convenience shops across the UK and Ireland as it seeks to capture a greater share of everyday, top-up spending.

Tesco has acquired five ex-Amazon Fresh locations in London, on Kensington High Street, in Hounslow, Moorgate, Aldgate East and Wembley, following the US technology group’s decision to retreat from its short-lived bricks-and-mortar grocery experiment in the UK. The sites are expected to reopen as Tesco Express stores before the summer.

Further Express openings are planned across a wide geographic spread, from Bickington in Devon and Pontrhydyrun in Torfaen to Strabane in Co Tyrone and Wallyford in East Lothian, underlining the retailer’s ambition to deepen its presence in both urban and regional communities.

Alongside its convenience push, Tesco is continuing to invest in larger-format stores. After opening new superstores in Ripon and Harrogate late last year, it plans to launch two more in Scotland in 2026, in Pitlochry, Perth and Kinross, and the Heartlands development in West Lothian.

Nick Johnson, Tesco’s group property director, said the expansion would allow the grocer to serve “even more people, in even more communities”. Tesco operates more than 7,000 stores worldwide.

The move reflects an intensifying land grab across the grocery sector, with convenience retail, estimated to be worth £48.8 billion in the UK, emerging as one of the few consistent growth areas. Time-poor shoppers are increasingly favouring smaller, more frequent local trips over traditional weekly supermarket shops.

Tesco’s rivals are moving aggressively. Asda is accelerating its convenience rollout and is targeting 300 Express-format stores by the end of this year. Waitrose has committed £1 billion to open around 100 convenience outlets over the next five years.

Morrisons plans to add a further 250 Morrisons Daily stores this year, focusing on the south of England and the Midlands, while Sainsbury’s continues to open around 20 to 25 Local stores annually under its “next level” strategy.

The rapid expansion by supermarket giants is putting increasing pressure on independent retailers. Convenience store owners warn that the scale, buying power and promotional strength of supermarket-owned chains are driving up rents and intensifying competition, accelerating the decline of traditional corner shops on Britain’s high streets.

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.

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Tesco already has more than 2,000 Express stores in the UK and Ireland

Tesco has revealed plans to expand its Express network with another 70 stores, including five former Amazon Fresh sites. The supermarket giant said it will open the new convenience store sites by March next year, following 60 Tesco Express openings in 2025.

Its new shops will include five former Amazon Fresh stores bought by Tesco across London, in Kensington High Street, Hounslow, Moorgate, Aldgate East and Wembley, which will all reopen as Tesco Express stores before the summer.

The US tech group announced last September it was closing all of its Amazon Fresh shops, shutting the 19 remaining sites as it shifts operations back towards its online business.

Amazon said at the time it planned to convert five of these into Whole Foods stores.

Tesco already has just over 2,000 Express stores in the UK and Ireland.

It said other new locations include in Bickington, Devon, Pontrhydyrun, Wales, Strabane, Northern Ireland and Wallyford in Scotland.

The group is also planning on opening two large stores in Scotland this year – in Pitlochry and Heartlands – following two superstore launches at the end of last year in Ripon and Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

Nick Johnson, Tesco group property director, said: “As we grow our store network we’re delighted to have the opportunity to serve even more people, in even more communities.”

The supermarket sector is pushing ahead with further convenience store rollouts amid a trend for shoppers to make fewer big store trips and more regular purchases from local stores.