frills, value pricing, with utilitarian shop fittings, basic checkouts and charges for carrier bags. In the early years, when the company had little in the way of effective competition, this was a clear recipe for success among the millions of people who might have found the mainstream supermarkets expensive, so the brand was highly regarded. The company's quirky image suffered over the years, with increased competition from other discount chains, such as Farmfoods, Iceland and foreign chains Aldi, Lidl, Netto, as well as from larger chains, such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, which introduced their own 'value' brand ranges. Kwik Save was seen for many years as the poor relation of Somerfield, consisting only of shops which were considered unsuitable for conversion to the more upmarket fascia, resulting in a further dilution of brand strength. In July 1994, Kwik Save reduced the price of its No Frills Baked Beans, to 7p for a 425g tin, in response to British pricing by Aldi and Netto. In April 1996, Kwik Save again reduced the price of its No Frills Baked Beans, to 5p for a 425g tin, again in response to British pricing by Aldi and Netto, and by Tesco. Shop formats Traditionally, Kwik Save shops had warehouse style wooden shelving, laid out in a traditional style familiar from most early supermarkets. In an effort to modernise the Kwik Save brand when under Somerfield ownership, the company undertook a programme to renovate its shops, which included new staff uniforms (a black and white chequered shirt which replaced the red T-shirts), new "Asda style" shelves to replace the wooden warehouse racking (referred to as "boards and beams"), new floors, checkouts, colour schemes and lighting. Renovated shops devoted more space to fresh foods, introduced new features, such as bakeries, and removed the requirement for customers to pay for carrier bags which, for many years, was symbolic of the Kwik Save business model. Around a third of the Kwik Save estate was transformed, with each shop having between £300,000 and £1,000,000 invested in the improvements. Sales figures from renovated shops suggested that the public did respond positively to the new look, although the profitability of these shops still did not meet that of unrefurbished Somerfield fascia shops. The off-licence sections of many Kwik Save shops were in a separate department known as Liquorsave. Up until the end of the 1990s, the fruit and vegetable