From 2000 until 2003, company growth was steady with a milestone 100th store opening in Shirley, West Midlands in 2003,[REF] yet in the following three years, store numbers had increased by 50% to 150 by 2006, as shown in the graph to the left.
The retailer expanded into Northern Ireland and opened 6 stores there before Christmas 2009, selling locally sourced goods such as milk as well as their usual branded products [REF].