Kwik Save

Discount Supermarket, 1967-2007

Kwik Save with its quirky spelling and cheap shelving was one of the first ‘discount’ supermarkets in the UK. It was cheap and cheerful but is remembered by me mainly for a few quirks with its stores when compared to other supermarkets of the era.

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These days when you think of discount supermarkets its Aldi and Lidl that have been leading the way for over a decade. But when I was entering the world Kwik Save was the equivalent. In actual fact when Kwik Save was founded in the late 60s it drew a lot of inspiration from Aldi and its business operations.

Kwik Save stores generally had a smaller floor plan than other supermarkets (even the smaller scale high street supermarkets of the 80s and early 90s). They also had warehouse style shelving which to me as a toddler look like it towered high above me but even at that tender age, I was able to tell was distinctly cheaper than any other shop used.

The other quirks of shopping in Kwik Save included the Liquor Save off-licence which was a separate store within a store complete with separate doors – I presume that was largely due to licencing laws preventing sales of alcohol at certain times.

Kwik Save also had one of the first cheapo own brands, coming before even Tesco Value was a thing. In plan packaging with a stencil typeface, if you saw someone with a ‘No Frills’ packet of crisps in their Lunchbox at school they certainly got judged.

I also remember that you had to pay for carrier bags, I think around 2p a time. This was long before that became standard practice and, of course, the law to do so.

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My own fondest memory of shopping in Kwik Save was the walk through chiller. You pushed your trolley in one side picked what you wanted and walked out the other. Probably done to cut costs but just a massive novelty for me.

While having a ‘No Frills’ product might have carried a stigma in the playground I don’t remember the simple fact you might be seen shopping in there having any such mark attached, unlike Netto which you absolutely wanted to have no association with whatsoever.

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KwikSave remained strong into the 90s but as the bigger supermarkets brought in their own budget ranges the business began to struggle and eventually merged with Sommerfield (remember them?). The plan was to turn them all into Sommerfields but they realised the majority of the stores were cheap and tacky so they didn’t bother eventually selling off Kwik Save once again.

The last hurrah came in the early 2000s by which point Netto had been seen off and Aldi and Lidl were getting their feet under the table. Kwik Save won’t be back (although the brand was revived for used by convenience stores) and it won’t be missed as there are plenty of alternatives for discount groceries thesedays.

As for the novelty of the big walk-in Fridge – once you have worked in retail and had to move stock into and out of massive chillers, that novelty wears off quickly!