Number of stores operated by major grocery retailers United Kingdom (UK) 2016

This statistic shows the number of stores operated by major grocery retailers in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016. The Co-operative has the largest number of stores at over four thousand, followed by Tesco with 3.5 thousand stores. The Co-operative operates a large number of convenience stores and smaller formats, which likely result in it having a higher number of stores than larger grocery retailers and even more so than the market leader Tesco. Convenience store formats play an increasingly large role in grocery retail, with value growth expected to increase significantly in coming years compared to traditional channels, such as supermarkets. Overall, however, the number of specialized stores for the retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco has decreased in the United Kingdom.