J. Sainsbury PLC

J. Sainsbury PLC

J Sainsbury PLC is one of the leading food retailers in the UK. Its main company is Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, one of the top three supermarkets in the UK behind competitor stores Tesco and Asda. J Sainsbury is also involved in the financial services market and set up Sainsbury's bank in 1997 with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

History of the Original J Sainsbury Company

Sainsbury's was founded in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury. It began as a small dairy shop in Drury Lane London and has since grown to a multi million pound chain of supermarkets including convenience stores Sainsbury's Local. As such it is Britain's longest standing major food retailing chain and has the legacy of being a genuine family run store. J Sainsbury plc now also owns Sainsbury's Online; an internet based home delivery service.

In 1922 J Sainsbury was incorporated as a private company and in 1973 it was floated as J Sainsbury PLC on the London Stock exchange.

Sainsbury's has 479 regular supermarkets stores with some Sainsbury's Central stores that are smaller and located in urban locations and 301 Sainsbury's Local or convenience stores across the country.

Recent J Sainsbury PLC Developments

The company has under gone turbulent times in recent years, but since 2004 J Sainsbury has made a comeback with help of CEO Justin King. He laid out a three year recovery plan for the chain, designed to grow sales by £2.5 bn by the end of 2007/8. The company has seen a steady increase in profits since and of May 2007 the company announced it was ahead of these targets.

Sainsbury's launched 'Try Something New Today' in September 2005. The campaign was designed to encourage customers to try new products and ingredients. With the help of successful TV campaigns featuring Jamie Oliver, and advertising in newspapers and magazines and much promotion in store the campaign has been very successful.

The Future of J Sainsbury

A Qatari investment fund has been in talks with J Sainsbury over a possible take over, the second bid of 2007 for the company. Delta currently has a 25% stake in the supermarket but talks are ongoing for a cash offer that would see them acquiring the balance of the ordinary share capital of J Sainsbury. It has already fended off a $20.6 bn bid from buyout firm CVC Capital Partners ltd during 2007.With profits steadily on the rise, Sainsbury's looks set to continue its good run and to retain its position as one of the top three supermarkets in the United Kingdom.

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