Waitrose has opened an 18,000 sq ft supermarket in Cricklewood, north west London, its first full line supermarket opening in eight years. The John Lewis Partnership announced the opening on 22 October 2026, the day the shop opened.
On the same day the grocer said it had acquired four new sites, including one in London: a convenience store in Chalk Farm, which will open from 2027 alongside new convenience stores in Bedminster in Bristol and Springstead Village in Cambridge.
The Cricklewood shop
The store at 194-196 Cricklewood Broadway is the latest to use Waitrose’s “Home of Food Lovers” concept, first trialled in Newbury and now the blueprint for its new openings and refurbishments.
It has dedicated meat, fish and sushi counters, a dry-aged beef cabinet, hand-cut and speciality cheeses, an on-site bakery, a Fine & Rare wine selection, and a fruit and vegetable section that features organic, Fairtrade and regeneratively farmed produce.
The shop has 69 new Partners, who join 53 experienced team members as co-owners in the John Lewis Partnership. Three of the appointments were made through the Partnership’s Building Happier Futures programme, which supports care-experienced young people into work. Staff on the wine, bakery and counter teams have completed extra training and qualifications with organisations including the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and the Guild of Fine Food.
Tina Mitchell, Waitrose Retail Director, said: “Our supermarkets provide the ultimate showcase for everything that sets Waitrose apart, from our unmatched quality and industry-leading welfare standards to the expert service of our Partners.
“Opening Cricklewood as our first new full-line supermarket in eight years marks an important step in bringing Waitrose closer to more communities. We continue to invest in the right shops in the right locations alongside delivering the experience customers expect from Waitrose through our online offering and wider network.”
The wider programme
The next Waitrose supermarket will open in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester, in November 2026. The four newly acquired sites are the Chalk Farm, Bedminster and Springstead Village convenience stores and a neighbourhood store in Oakham, Rutland. Work continues on a convenience store in Ascot and a 30,000 sq ft shop at Brabazon in Bristol, both previously announced.
The openings are part of a £1 billion investment plan over several years that also covers 29 store refurbishments in 2026 and the growth of Waitrose’s online and wholesale channels. A first South West distribution centre, in Avonmouth, is due to open early in 2027.
Waitrose says its property team is looking for more sites, and that its convenience format, with a gross size of 4,000 to 5,000 sq ft, is targeted at London. More retail and company news is in our companies section, and figures on new firms in the capital are in our report on London business births.
Details
Waitrose Cricklewood, 194-196 Cricklewood Broadway, London NW2 3BN. Open Monday to Saturday 8am to 10pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm.