What gives each Sainsbury's store its distinctive flavour?

What gives each Sainsbury's store its distinctive flavour?

When we came across this advertisement from 1988, it really made us think about the panoply of styles that Sainsburys have adopted over their history, and what are the ‘ingredients’ that make up a store?

The advertisement uses British regional cheeses to explain how they "prefer to let the local environment around each of our stores influence the style", rather than let a standard house style dictate the architecture for its new supermarkets.

So, let’s take a look at some of the features from the supermarket’s history that add up to complete the recipe.

 

Tile

Early examples of tiling in a retail setting could be found in butcher's shops, where glazed tiles were used as an alternative to wooden display boards.

What began as a way to improve hygiene soon became an aesthetic choice with butchers tiling their entire shops - often with decorative panels displaying livestock like cows, lambs and pigs.

Tiles have long been a key ‘ingredient’ in the store design of Sainsbury’s.

A contemporary advertisement for No. 9-11 London Road in Croydon, which opened in 1882, described the store as  ‘well lighted and elegantly fitted with mahogany, the walls being lined with tessellated tiles, whilst marble slabs and counters give to the whole an inviting air of coolness and cleanliness’.

Tiles - of the mosaic variety, were a common decorative feature of the threshold of highstreet shops.

This example from a store in Forest Hill, which closed in 1967, is still in-situ today.

After a branch closed, tiles were sometimes salvaged for reuse.

Here’s an image of the Forest Hill shopfront and the staff members proudly posing with their display of turkeys ready for Christmas.

And, here’s a more modern (well - 1970’s) example of tiles used at the butcher's counter; the livestock design, by Sally Cull, references the traditional use of tiles but is coupled with a geometric stripe for a more up to date look.

Tiles were also used as part of the signage on this branch in Dalston, where the company name is surrounded by rich terracotta coloured tiles below the shop window.

Opening in 1903, this was the first branch to start selling longer life grocery goods as well as the fresh foods like meat, poultry and dairy items the business had previously specialised in.

This close up image shows the beautiful Art Nouveau style detail which incorporated scrolling floral motifs. The elaborate detailing continued in the store interior which we can see in this image taken in the 1960’s. The branch remained trading until 1972.

But it doesn’t matter how attractive the tiles may be, some customers are never going to enjoy their shopping experience!

 

Brick

Brick work can be purely functional, but Sainsbury’s have also used the material in more decorative ways over the years.

At Northfleet's store, which opened in July 1992, artist Richard Kindersley created a distinctive brick relief on its south east wall. The work depicts the historical development of the site, from its Roman occupation through to the dominance of the cement industry in more recent times.

And the Church Street branch in Burnley had a similar treatment. The work references the mining heritage of the local area with miner’s helmets, lamps and tools combined with the silhouettes of customers and shopping trolleys as a way of linking new and old.

The Lewes Road branch in Brighton was opened in 1985. There had been a viaduct on the site, which was demolished to build the store and the architect has chosen to reference it with the use of arch shaped detailing in the brick facade, also echoed in the glazed entrance. 

Not exactly structural, but aesthetically pleasing like the murals - brickwork also cropped up on packaging too…

 

Signage

One common element, and supremely important in order to stand out on the high street is the shop front signage.

This advertisement from c. 1918 mentions the Sainsbury’s sign; ‘the most popular sign in the district!’ and how locals might use it to help  navigate.

This example shows the shop sign with metal bracket fixed signage above. The early version of the logo was more traditional than the one used today, and included the J for John James Sainsbury, which was dropped from the logo in 1999 as part of the new corporate identity developed by 20/20 Design and Strategy.

The letter forms being checked over in this image are much more like the ones we are used to seeing today. These were made for Sainsburys’s Charlton Depot.

Here’s a great example from 1971 of a store in Wandsworth Arndale Centre. It is interesting that it is in an interior arcade rather than a street or an open air precinct, yet still has an illuminated sign.

Also very much enjoying the water feature and groovy panelling!

And one year later in 1972, another groovy example from the Flaxland Bretton Centre in Peterborough. The first image shows the lettering being installed, and the second one shows the finished store.

The Bretton branch sign had so much style that it even made it on to the cover of JS Journal; the in-house magazine of Sainsburys (August 1972)

This striking advertisement from 1966 uses the sign as the main part of the design. It was published to announce the opening of the Church Street store in Nuneaton on 1st February 1966.

Although, as we can see here from this image from 1969, sometimes customers need a little extra guidance, especially if it’s a brand new store.

"Sainsbury's Basic Design Guide" from the 1970s provides information on how Sainsbury’s branding should be applied in various formats including signage, printed material, and point-of-sale advertising. The booklet also identifies the proper formatting of the logo and typefaces.

 

Shop Fronts 

The transition from the smaller and more traditional high street branches, to the larger stores situated on the edge of town has meant that the appearance of the stores has changed dramatically.

Opened by Mary Ann and John James Sainsbury in 1869, 173 Drury Lane in London was the site of the first store.

Photographed in c.1920, the shop continued to trade until 1958.

This later photo from 1955, again shows the exterior of Drury Lane. Notice there are two signs: the original above, and a more contemporary look beneath.

This photo shows store staff outside the Lee Green branch at 145 Lee Road in the 1920s.

This beautiful drawing by architects E. Coules and Son includes a front elevation and section view showing detail of "B" design of the J. Sainsbury logo on the shop front of 363 North End Road, Fulham which opened 1935 and closed in 1973.

58 Rushey Green, Catford photographed here in 1954 had been given a refit to its shopfront. The more decorative tile work of earlier years has been replaced with sleek looking marble for a more up to date look, however the signage is still a more traditional serif type font.

The cover of Sainsbury’s Journal of June 1954 compares the older and newer style shopfronts.

The magazine feature explains this new trend in design; ‘The ’”all-glass” look completely alters the face of the shop, giving the customers an almost uninterrupted view of the interior’ .

Of course, a company with such a long history is going to need to modernise its shops as time goes on. The cover of JS Journal from January 1982 carried a graphic that very succinctly illustrates that. By the 1980’s the shop fronts were looking radically different, and the Green Park Station store in Bath is a great example of architecture of this period.

Designed by Stride Treglown and Partners, the branch opened on 23rd November 1982. The pagoda-like roof and panelled facade gave it a streamlined appearance and was a big contrast to the adjacent former Green Park Station.

Originating from the 1860’s, the station was formerly known as Bath Queen Square, but was renamed in 1954 when the line was taken on by British Rail. 

The old station building lay derelict for many years after the station closed in 1966, but was renovated as part of the Sainsbury’s development and is now home to shops, cafes and markets.

This is just a tiny selection of some of the fascinating items we found by browsing around the archive, and we hope it gives you a bit of an overview of some of the many ingredients you may find in your local Sainsbury’s - but remember cheese is not a building material…

 

Written by Lisa Brown and Mark Bessoudo on behalf of the Sainsbury Archive. May 2025