, one of the UK's largest discount chains, has announced that it is cutting prices across the board in order to compete with the big supermarkets, as well as rival discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.In particular, it has cut prices on some of the bigger, more popular brands such as Kenco coffee and Princes tuna, according to a report in the Express. Chief executive Aziz Tayub said he is confident that Poundstretcher is already beating the supermarkets on price on branded products in grocery and household goods. He added, "we have lower margins and an excellent relationship with our supplier base so we have more leeway for cuts."
This is likely to be yet another headache for the major UK supermarkets who have seen their market shares encroached upon by Lidl and Aldi. This has led to supermarket price wars in order to compete.
Poundstretcher is already starting to see the benefit of these further price cuts. They posted a 6 per cent like-for-like jump in the first quarter, which was mostly attributable to the success of its food and homewares categories.
Poundstretcher currently has over 400 stores across the UK and plans to open a further 200 over the next four years. It has just opened its largest UK store in Belfast; it covers 35,000 square feet and created 25 new jobs.
