Several Homebase stores are closing and being replaced by Sainsbury’s branches (Credit: Shutterstock/John David Photog)

Gone are the days of all your diy needs in a convenient location – at least they will be for anyone who lives near 11 Homebase stores sold at Sainsbury’s.

The chain, which sold Homebase in 2006, acquired them in a £130m deal that will turn the sites into large supermarkets.

This will mean almost 400,000 more people will now live within a 10-minute drive of a Sainsbury’s supermarket, the chain said.

For any Homebase employee whose job is at risk as a result, Sainsbury’s promises to give them at least one interview for one of the planned 1,000 new roles.

The company’s chief executive, Simon Roberts, said: ‘Sainsbury’s food business continues to go from strength to strength as we move forward with our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan.

‘We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that is winning us customers from all our key competitors and driving consistent growth in market share volume.

‘We want to take advantage of this momentum and that is why we are increasing our presence in supermarkets.

METRO GRAPHICS Base of Operations Closing Map

A map shows where all stores close and when (Photo: METRO GRAPHICS)

“Our ambition is to be customers’ first choice for food and these new stores will showcase the best that Sainsbury’s supermarkets have to offer to even more communities across the country.”

A total of seven stores in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are confirmed to close before Christmas, with the remaining four believed to close shortly after.

Closing signs announcing sales of up to 60% of “Everything Must Go” have already appeared in some places.

These are:

  • Base of operations Birmingham Sutton Coldfield
  • Bromsgrove Operations Base
  • Cromer base of operations
  • Base of operations Derry/Londonderry
  • Fareham Operations Base
  • Inverurie Operations Base
  • Lowestoft Operations Base
  • Newark Base of Operations
  • Omagh Operations Base
  • Grassroots rugby
  • Glenthroes Operations Base

This is by no means the end of Homebase, which will have around 150 stores across the UK.

But the company faces a tough time, with CEO Damian McGloughlin telling suppliers this week that trading is “behind what we planned.”

Sainsbury’s, the second largest supermarket chain after Tesco, already owns Argos and Habitat.

Although it closed 15 large supermarkets and dozens of Argos stores as Aldi and Lidl stepped up their expansion, it made £137m of after-tax profits in the year ending March 2024.

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