Our history

  • 1869 

    • We opened our first store in Drury Lane.

      The first house of Sainsbury 1869 logo

      Sainsbury's was founded in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury. Drury Lane was one of London's poorest areas and the Sainsburys' shop quickly became popular for offering high-quality products at low prices.  Since 1869 we have grown from one shop to more than 800 today.

  • 1882 

    • We started to sell own-brand products

      Two early own-brand labeled products

      Having our own-label products has always been seen as the best way of offering choice and good value to customers. Our first own-label product in 1882 was bacon, which was smoked in our instore smoking ovens.

  • 1898 

    • Our longest established supplier – Lloyd Maunder – started supplying us with meat and poultry.

      Black and white photograph of meat and poultry store window

      We have built up strong relationships with suppliers to make sure our customers always have the freshest food available.  Our buyers have worked with suppliers since 1983 to reduce the number of additives where possible, particularly in children’s food, and we were the first to remove all of them from our own-brand soft drinks.

  • 1914 

    • We started to recruit women to help with colleague shortages during the First World War

      First World War poster of woman worker

      During the war women helped run stores for the first time. They went to a new training school specially set up at Blackfriars.

  • 1916 

    • We set up our training school in Blackfriars, ensuring our colleagues were the best trained.

      Black and white photograph of J Sainsbury store front

      Our training was so well regarded by our competitors in the early 1900s that they advertised for “Sainsbury’s trained men”. This tradition of great training continues today, with programmes such as our Bakery apprenticeship scheme.

  • 1944 

    • We halved labels on our cans, to save paper and help the war effort.

      Old fashioned ground white pepper tin

      In the First World War we introduced our rationing scheme, to make sure customers got a fair share of the food that was available. The scheme was so successful that the Government adopted the system during the Second World War.

  • 1946 

    • The first issue of our colleague magazine, the Journal, arrived instore

      the Journal first issue cover

      We’ve always given colleagues as much career advice as possible so they can make the most of their job. We even produced information about careers on vinyl records – a bit different from the DVDs we produce today.

  • 1950s 

    • Our self-service
      stores opened, years before our competitors

      Black and white photograph of customers in a self-service store

      Our store in Croydon was the first to change to self-service, in 1950, bringing an end to queuing at counters. Eventually, all stores became self-service but it’s hard to believe the last one was only converted in 1982.

  • 1970s 

    • We introduced the
      first bakeries, fresh fish counters, petrol stations and coffee shops into our stores.

      Loaf of bread

      We’ve always put the needs of customers first. Since the war, travel has broadened our customers’ tastes and we’ve increased our ranges.

  • 1975 

    • Our first Savacentres opened, expanding our range to include non-food products.

      In-store colour photograph of Savercentre

      It’s hard to imagine now what our stores looked like a hundred years ago. Stores were long, and narrow and a far cry from the modern, brightly lit and spacious stores our customers visit today.

  • 1989 

    • We introduced the first ever carrier bags made from recycled material.

      Recycled material carrier bag

      Our reusable Bags for Life are made of 100% recycled material – no virgin crude oil is used in their production. We’ve always led the way with new and exciting technology in our stores. We also computerised our stock control and developed CFC-free refrigerants.

  • 1991 

    • To encourage our customers to reuse carrier bags, we launched our Penny Back scheme for charity.

      Penny back scheme logo

      Launching our CFC-free aerosols was much better for the environment. But caring for the environment is nothing new. In the early 1900s we even recycled rabbit skins!

  • 2000s 

    • Bells and Jacksons join our local stores and we sell Homebase and our American stores, Shaws.

      In-store photograph

      The new millennium heralded a period of change for Sainsbury's. Homebase and Shaws Supermarkets were sold and the focus was on the core UK business, comprising Sainsbury's Supermarkets, Sainsbury's Local, Sainsbury's online and Sainsbury's Bank. The acquisition of convenience store chains Bells Stores, Jacksons, JB Beaumont and SL Shaw increased the company's presence in the UK convenience sector.

  • 2005 

    • We launched Try something new today, marking the end of a disappointing period in our history, and a return to what our customers want.

      Try something new today logo

      Our Try Tips are a great way for customers to get adventurous and Try something new today. They continue our long tradition of publishing recipes and giving our customers new ideas. The campaign, promoted in stores, newspapers, magazines and on TV, has been hugely successful, with over 7 million ‘Try’ cards picked up in stores.

  • 2007 

    • Our first Make the Difference day encouraging carrier bag reuse, was a massive success.

      Customer at checkout with carrier bag

      The first Make the Difference day – 27 April 2007 – focused on respect for our environment. For one day, Sainsbury’s became the first major UK supermarket to stop giving out free disposable carrier bags in its stores. Instead, we gave customers an estimated seven million free re-usable ‘Bags for Life’ (usually 10p) for their shopping. If customers keep and reuse the bags on future shopping trips, together we will have reduced the number of disposable carrier bags needed in the future.