Tesco plans to open over 70 Express stores across the country by March next year, including at least five new sites in London.
In a statement released today, the supermarket chain confirmed it had acquired five former Amazon Fresh stores across the capital.
These sites – in Kensington High Street, Hounslow, Moorgate, Aldgate East, and Wembley – will reopen as Express stores before the summer.
Further openings in London are expected before March 2027, although Tesco did not confirm the locations.
Other sites across the country include Bickington in Devon; Pontrhydyrun in Torfaen; and Wallyford in East Lothian. Tesco opened 60 new Express stores in 2025.
“As one of the UK’s leading retailers, we support jobs and local economies up and down the UK, and as we grow our store network we’re delighted to have the opportunity to serve even more people, in even more communities,” said Nick Johnson, Tesco Group Property Director.
“We are hugely excited about the year ahead and looking forward to meeting our customers where they are with great quality, exceptional value and brilliant customer service.”
Amazon Fresh experiment ends
The departure of Amazon Fresh from the capital brings to an end the tech giant’s experiment with supermarkets in the UK.
Amazon trialled a new till-less approach to stores, where customers could grab their items and leave without paying. Sensitive in-store cameras would then identify their purchases, sending a bill directly to their Amazon account.
But the firm failed to make significant inroads against the UK’s incumbents and announced last September that it would be shutting all 19 of its UK stores, just four years after launching.
Five stores will be turned into Whole Foods Market shops, the supermarket chain specialising in organic products which Amazon bought in 2017.
