Southern Co-op has opened its 100th store, hot on the heels of completing the £2m integration programme of eight stores it acquired from Davids on the Isle of Wight in November last year.
The 100th store in Cherque Farm, Lee-on-Solent, was opened by local TV presenter Fred Dinenage, and follows the refurbishment of the final former Davids store in Somerton.
Phil Ponsonby, general manager of commercial operations at Southern Co-op, said he had high hopes for further expansion on the island. "We have 14 stores here and I'd be disappointed if we weren't up to 20 by 2008."