| Type: | Franchising |
| Num Locations: | 1,700[1] |
| Industry: | Retail |
| Area Served: |
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| Products: | Grocer's shop, convenience shops |
| Parent: | Barry Group (Costcutter Ireland) Bestway Wholesale (Costcutter UK) |
| Location: |
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Costcutter is a chain of convenience shops, supermarkets and off-licences that operates in Ireland, Great Britain and Poland. The chain operates primarily as a symbol group and is owned by Barry Group in the Republic of Ireland and by Bestway Wholesale in the United Kingdom.[2] [3]
In the UK, the group owns the Costcutter, Kwik Save, Supershop, and Simply Fresh brands.
Costcutter was founded in 1986, by Colin Graves.[4]
In 2000, the brand entered the Irish market as a separate business under the ownership of Barry Group.
By 2006, there were some 1,400 shops under the Costcutter brand,[4] with the majority of shops being in the United Kingdom, and 120 shops in the Republic of Ireland and 52 in Poland.[5]
A proposed merger with Nisa-Today's collapsed in November 2006, after concerns about a cartel.[4] which were reported to the Office of Fair Trading by members of Nisa-Today's, who opposed the merger.[6]
Costcutter revived the Kwik Save brand in 2012, from a separate chain which had ceased trading.[7]
In 2018, The Co-Op Group made an offer of £15 million in an attempt to take ownership of Costcutter. The bid was rejected, but it was believed the Costcutter was open to further talks.[8] The Co-op subsequently became the sole supplier to the Costcutter group.[9]
In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Costcutter built 20 pop-up shops in NHS hospitals.[10]
In December 2020, Costcutter's UK business was acquired by the wholesaler Bestway. The Co-op supply agreement continues.[11] Its Irish business remains in the ownership of Barry Group.[3]