Major milestone achieved this week for Deeside based Iceland with its 900th store opening

The Iceland Group reached the new milestone this week with the opening of its 900th UK store nearly 47 years after the very first store opened.

The 9,759 sq ft Food Warehouse on South Bristol Retail Park near the city’s Ashton Gate Stadium became the landmark 900th store when it opened it doors to shoppers for the first time this week.

The Group says the total UK estate has grown by 100 stores in just over four years, creating more than 2,000 new jobs in the process.

Iceland has been rapidly expanding the roll out of The Food Warehouse stores across the UK since it opened of the first one in September 2014.

The company has plans to further accelerate the growth of the new format stores which are more than twice the size of a typical high street Iceland, the current opening rate is around 25 new stores each year.

Plans have recently been approved for a new 9,730 sq ft store to be built on existing car park space opposite the Jade Jones Pavilion in Flint.

Like all existing Food Warehouse stores Flint will offer the full Iceland range along with extended ranges of luxury and speciality frozen food, chilled meat and fresh produce, wines and craft beers, the stores also sell value bulk packs of grocery products, and bargain homeware lines.

Google Maps Tour of an Iceland Food Warehouse.

Iceland Founder & Executive Chairman Sir Malcolm Walker said:

“On 18 November it will be exactly 47 years since I opened the first Iceland store in Oswestry – and back then nine stores looked a towering ambition, never mind 900.

I am delighted that we have reached this new milestone as a distinctive British company with a unique culture, fantastic colleagues.

The Food Warehouse has grown to 53 stores from a standing start in just three years, and is winning many new customers for the Group.”