North

Doncaster branch opened its doors in October 1974. It was Sainsbury’s most northerly branch and the first in Yorkshire.

It was described by Sainsbury’s staff magazine JS Journal as ‘introducing Sainsbury’s southern charms into black pudding country’. The store was bigger than many Sainsbury’s branches, with a large sales area and 20 twin-bay checkouts.

Many of the staff on the shop floor were new recruits to the ‘Sainsbury family’; some had never heard of Sainsbury’s before.

Doncaster was quickly followed by other northerly branches in Sheffield (1975) and Northwich (1979).

It was during the 1980s that Sainsbury’s established itself as a truly national retailer. A steady expansion in the North West saw branches opened at Birkenhead (1982), Liverpool (1982 & 1983), Blackpool (1984) and Lancaster (1985). Ten further stores in Yorkshire were opened during the decade.

In 1989 Sainsbury’s first supermarket in the North East opened in Middlesbrough. Stores in Sunderland, Durham and Whitley Bay followed, stretching the Sainsbury’s name to all parts of England.