The Co-operative Travel is to expand its network of agency outlets in its parent group’s food stores following last month’s acquisition of Somerfield.
The Co-operative Group, which runs the fifth largest UK supermarket chain, agreed to buy Somerfield in a £1.6 billion deal in July.
The Co-operative Travel already has outlets, which it calls ‘implants’, in 22 food stores, including rival chains such as Tesco and Asda.
The group is opening travel outlets in its existing supermarkets, where refurbishment is taking place. It recently opened an agency in its food store in Peacehaven, Sussex, and further outlets will open in food stores in Glasgow and Swansea.
But the acquisition of 700 Somerfield stores presents a major opportunity for further expansion, said The Co-operative Travel’s director of retail distribution Trevor Davis.
“The Somerfield stores are an opportunity and we are working closely with our food partners in areas where there might be huge footfall.”
He added: “In some of our larger [The Co-operative Group] food stores, where we do not have a presence, we are going in as part of a family of businesses, offering our banking, pharmacy and travel outlets.”
He said there are areas where the travel division does not have a strong presence and where opening in food stores would be more effective than signing long leases for shops.