The purchase of the Jacksons chain has put Sainsbury's into third place in the multiple sectors' scramble for control of the convenience market.
The retailer's number of stores has jumped from just 5 in 1999 to 257, although it still lags someway behind Tesco, with 1,187 stores, and c-store stalwarts the Co-op, with 1,850 stores who have both expanded considerably since 1999.
This year in particular has seen the action hot up, with Tesco kicking off the feeding frenzy with the purchase of Adminstore's 45 stores for £53.7 million.
Somerfield got in on the act with the purchase of Mace for £11.8m and Osprey forecourt stores for £2.6m, adding 64 outlets to their operations. Sainsbury's picked up Bells 54 stores for around £22m while the Co-op added a further 64 to its total with the purchase of Conveco for an estimated £25m.
The increasing focus on the sector has led c-store bosses to call on competition regulators to limit the power of the supermarkets.
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