Waitrose hits string of London stores with ‘overnight’ price rises
Waitrose hits string of London stores with ‘overnight’ price rises
Lora JonesSat, November 14, 2026 at 8:00 AM UTC
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15 London branches, including Kings Road, Chelsea, are understood to have been reclassified despite being restricted to six hours for Sunday trading - Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
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Waitrose has reclassified a string of London supermarkets as “convenience stores”, pushing through price increases on certain everyday goods, The Telegraph can reveal.
Shoppers at up to 15 supermarkets now face steeper prices, paying more than at its Canary Wharf flagship store or online for select items.
Waitrose branches in Bloomsbury, Marylebone, Stratford East, Crouch End, King’s Cross, Islington, Clapham Junction and Chelsea Kings Road have been reclassified, The Telegraph understands.
Prices for some items at the Bloomsbury store were up to 13.6pc higher than at Canary Wharf or on the Waitrose website, it found.
Packs of two Waitrose chicken breast fillets cost £6.05 in Bloomsbury, compared with £5.50 online and in Canary Wharf, while four-packs of Heinz baked beans were 10.9pc more expensive at £3.05 instead of £2.75.
The affected shops have been recategorised as “convenience stores” despite the fact they are restricted to six hours for Sunday trading.
According to a member of staff, prices at the affected shops were on digital shelf labels from head office on Wednesday.
Now, a six-pack of Essential free-range white eggs costs £1.59 in Bloomsbury, versus £1.40.
A 500ml bottle of Waitrose’s light-coloured olive oil costs £6.69, versus £5.95 – 12.4pc more expensive.
Part-baked white baguettes were more costly, at £1.65 for two versus £1.50.
Overall, a basket of 14 identical products cost £30.68 at Bloomsbury, compared with £28.60 on Waitrose.com for a home delivery.
‘Brutal’ price rises
Jon Robertson, a regular Waitrose shopper, said he was “taken aback” when he noticed higher prices on the shelves at both the Marylebone and Bloomsbury branches on Thursday.
On calling the customer service line, he said a Waitrose staff member told him that Bloomsbury’s reclassification and subsequent price changes “came straight from head office and [staff] were powerless to stop any of it”.
The member of staff told him that the higher prices were pushed through on newer digital shelf labels on Wednesday and they had since received customer complaints.
“It’s pretty brutal... just as the cold weather kicks in,” Mr Robertson said.
“I won’t be back until I know the prices are better. It’s such a confusing decision,” he added.
The Bloomsbury store is located in the Brunswick Centre, a Grade II-listed complex which includes homes for social housing tenants. A number of halls for University of London students are also nearby.
On Friday, one 64-year-old local resident told The Telegraph: “I’ll have to make things stretch out a bit longer if I notice it’s making a big difference to my purse.”
The Telegraph was also told by one member of staff that the change had been made to the Bloomsbury store because of “inflation and competitors such as Tesco”.
A Waitrose staff member said the higher prices came through with new digital shelf labels this week
It comes after Waitrose announced it would invest £20m to cut the cost of the weekly shop in September, reducing prices of more than 370 “everyday” own-brand products.
According to The Telegraph’s analysis of the basket of 14 items, eight staples including 1.5kg bags of flour and tins of chopped tomatoes were the same price at the Bloomsbury store as on the website.
The supermarket, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, is also investing heavily in shop refurbishments and expansion.
Waitrose was unable to confirm the exact number or locations of the affected stores now categorised as convenience branches.
A spokesman said: “While pricing in the vast majority of our shops won’t change, we’re updating the prices in a small number of shops to reflect their higher running costs.
“At the same time, we’re reducing prices on around 1,000 popular items in our convenience shops to match our supermarkets, alongside our New Lower Prices on hundreds of everyday staples, regular rewards, and promotions across all stores.”
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Source: “AOL Money”
