Shop fronts

The external appearance of Sainsbury's shops was vital to the business, particularly as Sainsbury's expanded into areas where the company name was not well-known.

Counter service shop frontages tended to follow a standard design. They were made from Norwegian and Swedish granite, with tall sash windows and polished teak frames. Above the shop front was the striking wrought iron structure that held the gold leaf lettering of 'J. SAINSBURY', which was visible over the traffic from the other end of the street.

Sainsbury's shopfronts remained much the same until the 1950s, when a radical new style was adopted. At Sainsbury's first modernised store at Selsdon, near Croydon, the old open windows were replaced by single sheets of armoured plate glass and central shutters with permanent doors.

The new external fascia featured Sainsbury's name in gold on a background of 'blue pearl' granite with a red granite surround. The glass frontage gave customers and uninterrupted view of shop's interior, including the self-service checkouts.

Sainsbury's first in-house designer Leonard Beaumont established a corporate image for self-service stores which was consistent from shop fascias (which used the Trajan typeface) to in-store signage.

By the 1960s, new supermarkets featured illuminated signs, with the orange J. Sainsbury logo on brick or granite. New pedestrian precincts provided opportunities for public art commissions. The Chelsea store which opened in 1966 featured a sculpture by John Wragg; concrete murals depicting an area's history were also a popular feature of 1960s and 70s supermarkets.