J Sainsbury plc is one of the world's leading retailers, operating four separate retail chains in the UK and US which together serve more than 11 million customers each week. As well as Sainsbury's supermarkets the Group operates Savacentre Hypermarkets and Homebase house and garden centres (incorporating Texas Homecare) in the UK. The group's interests in the US include Shaw's supermarkets and a 20% holding in Giant Food Inc. Copyright J Sainsbury plc, 1995, 1996 Good Food Costs Less at Sainsbury's. This slogan has been used in its present wording since 1959, but appeared in Victorian times in the form `Quality Perfect, Prices Lower'. Placed end to end, the number of cans of food sold by Sainsbury's in a year would reach round the equator. Sainsbury's serves 30 customers every second during opening hours. Sainsbury's sell 12,000,000 eggs a week. In 1909 at Folkestone, Sainsbury's opened a new self-service store which carried advertising in English and French and accepted both sterling and French francs. It was cheaper then for the French to stock up on groceries in England than home.The company's first motorised vehicle fleet consisted of six Leyland lorries bought from the RAF in 1919. John James Sainsbury (the founder) presented a pair of gauntlets and a Thermos flask to each driver. Over 40% of Sainsbury's management are women.One in seven bottles of wine bought in the UK comes from Sainsbury's.The number of sausages sold by Sainsbury's in a year, when placed end to end, would reach three quarters of the way round the world.Pictures for Schools, an arts initiative launched by Sainsbury's in 1993, gave reproductions of famous paintings to 750 secondary schools. In 1994 1,700 primary schools each received four pictures.Sainsbury's is the UK's largest retailer of meat and poultry.Twelve and a half thousand singers took part in the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year Competition. Over 60,000 have taken part since it was launched in 1984. Nearly 44 million people have watched the programmes on TV.Since the launch, in 1990, of Sainsbury's 'Penny Back' scheme for re-used plastic carrier bags, customers have donated more than 700,000 pounds in pennies returned to them by the company for the benefit of local and national charities.Until 1937, Sainsbury's used horse-drawn vehicles for local London deliveries.The largest single transaction recorded at Sainsbury's so far was in December 1989, when a Middlesbrough businessman spent 12,242 pounds on Christmas hampers for his staff.The oldest Sainsbury brand product today is Red Label Tea, which was introduced in 1930 and took its name from the scarlet seals on the packets. It is said that the Founder personally selected the original blend.Sainsbury's was a partnership until 1922, when it was incorporated. It remained a private company until 1973 when shares were launched on The Stock Exchange for the first time. The share offer was the biggest public issue to that date and saw a 34-fold over-subscription.In 1969 Sainsbury's store at 9-11 London Road, Croydon was the first shop in Britain to use decimal currency. When it ceased trading as a supermarket it was used as a training centre where staff and customers could learn to use the new money. J Sainsbury plc, 1995, 1996 The kitchens at Sainsbury's are always developing new and exciting recipes for our customers. Here is a small selection for your enjoyment. You should find all of the ingredients are available in Sainsbury's stores. Copyright Copyright J Sainsbury plc, 1995, 1996 J Sainsbury is setting up a separate board for its supermarket business in an attempt to regain market share. 21-Feb-97 J Sainsbury has introduced the first Sainsbury's Banks into supermarkets in the Midlands, the north and Scotland, offering an interest rate of 5.75% on an instant access account. 20-Feb-97 J Sainsbury and Bank of Scotland have won a banking licence to set up Sainsbury's Bank, which should be up and running within six weeks. 11-Feb-97 J Sainsbury is linking up with Willis Corroon to offer home insurance through its Homebase DIY chain. 11-Jan-97 J Sainsbury is planning to set up a supermarket on the Internet, developed in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard and offering a full range of goods. 28-Dec-96 J Sainsbury is aiming to win back market share from Tesco by offering Extra Reward Points for its loyalty cards on over 200 products. 02-Nov-96 J Sainsbury is linking with Bank of Scotland to set up Sainsbury's Bank, which will start providing telephone banking services in its supermarkets from early 1997. 26-Oct-96 J Sainsbury is acquiring 12 superstores in the US from Royal Ahold for $52m, a move which will make it the second biggest food retailer in Connecticut. 24-Sep-96 J Sainsbury is preparing to introduce products that use genetically modified soya imported from the US, but faces protests from environmental groups who claim that the risks of such foods are not known. 21-Sep-96 J Sainsbury, the supermarket, is expanding the features of its Reward customer loyalty card to offer free phone calls through British Telecom and the opportunity for cardholders to make donations to the NSPCC charity. 12-Sep-96 J Sainsbury is in discussions with Royal Ahold of the Netherlands to buy 12 superstores in the US. 13-Aug-96 J Sainsbury has seen a slight revival in its market share since the June launch of its loyalty card, and now has 5.5m cardholders with 100,000 new cards a week. 12-Aug-96 J Sainsbury is increasing its stake in Giant Food, the US supermarket group, to 20% at a cost of $62m, and may be preparing to take full control. 07-Aug-96 J Sainsbury has acquired full control of its Homebase DIY chain with the acquisition of GIB's 25% stake. 02-Aug-96 Sainsbury has introduced a loyalty bonus discount card, called the Reward Card, which will allow customers to collect British Airways air miles. 18-Jun-96 Sainsbury is the leading retailer of alcoholic drinks, with 9.8% of the market, while Thresher has 9.6%, Tesco 9.5% and Victoria Wine 8.3%, according to a report from Datamonitor. 13-Apr-96 J Sainsbury has received planning permission for the first 2 of 7 stores that it is planning in Northern Ireland in a £100m investment. 15-Feb-96 There was a 4% increase in the retailer private label business in 1995, with Sainsbury in the lead with a 66% private label share, according to Nielsen. 10-Feb-96 J Sainsbury is to continue with its aggressive pricing promotions into February. 03-Feb-96 Safeway and Sainsbury are both launching the UK's first genetically engineered food - a tomato puree. 03-Feb-96 Sainsbury is said to be planning a new loyalty card having started trials with Catalina, the electronic incentive schemes concern. 13-Jan-96 J Sainsbury has launched a January Savers promotion, reducing 200 prices by up to 50%, following a similar move by Iceland. 02-Jan-96 J Sainsbury may be about to acquire Giant Food of the US following the death of Giant's chairman. 25-Nov-95 Sainsbury has appointed a new marketing director, apparently in response to tougher marketing activities shown by its competitors. 27-Oct-95 Asda has been forced to stop discounting 8 of the 80 non-prescription medicines it recently cut prices on, while Sainsbury has started to follow Asda's lead in the challenge to price-fixing. 25-Oct-95 Tesco, Boots and Sainsbury have said they will not follow Asda's lead in cutting prices of OTC medicines. 17-Oct-95 A Kier Group subsidiary has won a contract to build a new Sainsbury superstore in Street, Somerset. 03-Oct-95 More retailers are expected to follow Tesco's lead in the use of its Clubcard, with Sainsbury testing a Saver Card and Safeway introducing its ABC loyalty card. 20-Sep-95 J Sainsbury plans to launch its virtually toxic-free City Diesel nationwide following a successful trial. 15-Sep-95 Sainsbury financial results for the full year to Mar 97: Sales £13400.0m (£12600.0m last year). Pre-tax Profit £609.0m (£712.0m last year). 09-May-97 Sainsbury financial results for the first half to Sep 96: Sales £7500.0m (£7050.0m last year). Pre-tax Profit £393.0m (£456.0m last year). 01-Nov-96 Sainsbury financial results for the full year to Mar 96: Sales £12600.0m (£11400.0m last year). Pre-tax Profit £712.0m (£809.0m last year). 10-May-96