As Planet Organic celebrates the launch of its 14th store, Sky News reports that the retailer has hired financial advisory company Interpath to advise on its strategic options following two loss-making years.
“We are working closely with our advisors to help us navigate options to secure further investment,” said a spokesperson for Planet Organic. “This additional funding will enable us to support the next phase in our current growth plans.”
The organic supermarket has been seeking funding to help achieve its growth plans, which included having 50 Planet Organic stores in and around London by 2024. Having launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs in 2022, which secured about £7 million, the retailer cancelled the round before funds were released after it decided on a different strategic approach to fundraising.
We think 18 stores is sufficient to get the business to profitability
Speaking to The Grocer, CEO George Dymond, explained: “Rather than having an elongated fundraising campaign, which we spent a lot of time on last year, we are doing an accelerated version to make sure we get in front of interested parties, whether that is trade or any of the institutions, and doing it over a finite amount of time means I have more bandwidth to run the company.”
He also indicated that the ambitious target of 50 stores has been scaled back: “We think 18 stores is sufficient to get the business to profitability and we are in a different paradigm then.”
The new 2,809sq ft store in Teddington, London, which opened today, features over 3,500 products across food and drinks to go, pantry, produce, health and wellness and beauty and boasts four qualified nutritionists as well as a qualified nurse to advise customers.
To celebrate the opening, Planet Organic gave away 1,000 Sweet Potato Brownies to customers with the first 500 receiving a ‘Founding Friend’ discount card on the day, giving them 10% off in Planet Organic Teddington for three months.
We identified Teddington as a fantastic fit for Planet and we can’t wait to welcome customers into store
“We’re hugely excited to be bringing Planet Organic to Teddington,” says Aliz Tentea, new stores opening manager. “The response from the community so far has been amazing. Our brand ambassador has been standing outside the front of the shop, introducing Planet Organic to the community and the response has been overwhelming with queues along the street!
“We identified Teddington as a fantastic fit for Planet and we can’t wait to welcome customers into store, introduce them to our fantastic range of products and our expert colleagues, helping the people of Teddington to discover better on everything from fresh, organic food to the most innovative and exciting products in health and wellness.”
Planet Organic has made a £500 commitment to local homeless charity, SPEAR, which will contribute to the running of the charity and help support its Health Day.
