History of Supermarkets Timeline

During 1955, Waitrose opened its first supermarket in Streatham, South London, building on its early self-service experience to enter the emerging full-scale supermarket market.

Tesco did not open its first supermarket until 1956, when it launched a store in Maldon, Essex, several years after adopting self-service, marking its move into the larger supermarket format.

Between 1956 and 1963, all of the future 'big four' entered full supermarket retailing: Tesco in Maldon in 1956, Morrisons in 1961, and Asda in 1963, completing the line-up that would dominate British groceries for decades.

Image source: List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom

Between 1958 and 1969, supermarket growth transformed British grocery retailing: store numbers rose from 175 to 2,803, multiple retailers grew from 25% to 41% of grocery turnover, and Britain's first out-of-town supermarket opened in Nottinghamshire.

By 1958, Britain had only 175 supermarkets, showing that despite the spread of self-service, large-scale supermarket retailing was still in its infancy at the end of the decade.

By 1959, multiple grocery retailers accounted for only 10% of grocery outlets but already 25% of the British grocery market, indicating that larger chains were capturing a disproportionate share of sales through economies of scale.

Morrisons did not open its first supermarket until 1961, later than many rivals, but the Bradford-based chain would grow to become one of Britain's 'big four' supermarkets.

Image source: Morrisons

Asda was the last of what would become the 'big four' to open its first supermarket, doing so in 1963, after which it expanded rapidly on its value-focused model.

Image source: Asda

In November 1964, American retailer GEM opened Britain's first out-of-town supermarket in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, pioneering the car-dependent big-box format that would reshape British retail geography.

The number of supermarkets in Britain exploded from just 175 in 1958 to 2,803 by 1967, illustrating the extraordinary pace of supermarket construction and adoption during the 1960s.

A decade after holding 25% of the British market, the expansion of supermarkets had seen them take 41% of all grocery turnover by 1969, confirming their dominance over traditional counter-service shops.

The UK food retail market became dominated by the 'big four' supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons – which together made up more than three quarters of sector market share in 2010.

From Aldi overtaking Morrisons in September 2022 through the two chains tying at 9.1% at the end of 2022 to the big-four-plus-discounters holding five sixths of the market at the start of 2025, German discounters dramatically reshaped the British grocery hierarchy.

Image source: Discount store

In September 2022, a number of sources reported that German discounter Aldi had overtaken Morrisons to become Great Britain's fourth largest grocery retailer, marking a significant disruption of the traditional 'big four' hierarchy.

Image source: Aldi

At the end of 2022, Morrisons and Aldi both remained level at 9.1% of the grocery market, underscoring how closely matched the established supermarket and the fast-rising discounter had become.

In its 2016 report, Lloyds Bank compiled averaged information from neighbourhoods across England and Wales using supermarket location data from CACI Datalab and house price information from HM Land Registry, highlighting the relationship between supermarkets and local property values.

Image source: Lloyds Bank

In 2022, Tesco was the largest retailer in Northern Ireland, followed by Sainsbury's, Asda and Lidl, reflecting a slightly different competitive hierarchy in the province compared with Great Britain.

As of November 2024, there were 17 supermarket chains currently operating in the United Kingdom, ranging from the largest national players to smaller regional and discount chains.

At the start of 2025, Tesco was the largest retailer in Great Britain with a market share of 28.5%, maintaining its long-held position at the top of the UK grocery market.

At the start of 2025, the big four supermarkets collectively accounted for two thirds of the grocery market share, still dominant though far below their more-than-three-quarters peak of 2010.

Also at the start of 2025, the big four combined with the discounters accounted for five sixths of the grocery market share, showing the growing weight of Aldi and Lidl alongside the traditional giants.