Ugo (retailer)

UGO Stores

Industry	Retail
Founded	January 2011
Defunct	February 2012
Headquarters	Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom
Products	Groceries

UGO was a chain of convenience stores in the United Kingdom owned by the Haldanes Group^[1] and was started in January 2011.^[2]

It acquired 20 mid-size Netto supermarkets in the North and Midlands of England from the ASDA chain, and turned them into UGO stores; these stores were in: Athersley, Ashington, Blackburn, Boothferry, Bradford, Burnley, Bury, Carcroft, Eston, Hartlepool, Hull (two stores), Kirkby, Lundwood, Monk Bretton, Nuneaton, Retford, Rotherham, Stanley and Wavertree. Additionally, the Haldanes stores in Biddulph (Staffordshire) and Broxburn (Scotland) were converted to the UGO branding; these two stores remained in the ownership of Haldanes Stores, another company in the Haldanes Group.^[3]

The UGO strategy was to double Netto’s existing core range of branded grocery lines to around 3,000 more items, plus more fresher bakery items from the Haldanes-acquired^[4] Woodhead Bakery.

UGO have appeared twice on television in the United Kingdom. It appeared on Channel 4's Come Dine With Me^[5] when a contestant was filmed shopping for the programme in the Blackburn store, and appeared on Channel 4's Facejacker which aired on March 27, 2012 at 10pm, in the Nuneaton store, when the self-service checkout was 'taken over'.^[6]

In June 2011, Haldanes Stores went into administration, and its stores closed, including the two stores branded as UGO. In February 2012, UGO Stores was itself placed in administration, and the chain was bought by Poundstretcher, in a pre-pack sale, with 18 of the 20 stores to become part of the Poundstretcher chain^[7] and the other two (Nuneaton, Hull) to close as Poundstretcher already had stores nearby.^[8]

References

1. Phillips, Beth (2012-02-01). "Troubled discounter Ugo sold to 'established national name'". The Grocer. William Reed Business Media. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
2. Soult, Graham (2011-01-25). "Haldanes pledges that UGO will be "the icing on the Netto cake"". Retrieved 2012-09-18.
3. Soult, Graham (2011-06-10). "Haldanes stores in Tattershall, Wigton, Crieff and Tranent may be saved". Retrieved 2012-09-18.
4. "Woodhead Bakery in double acquisition deal". Bakeryinfo.co.uk. William Reed Business Media. 2011-04-19. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
5. Phillips, Beth (2012-01-21). "Ugo Stores stars in Come Dine With Me". The Grocer. William Reed Business Media. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
6. "Facejacker - Clips - S2-Ep1: Cabbage or Cauliflower". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
7. Phillips, Beth (2012-02-11). "Poundstretcher snaps up troubled Ugo chain from administration". The Grocer. William Reed Business Media. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
8. Soult, Graham (2012-02-19). "How Poundstretcher can learn a thing or two from its acquired UGO stores". Retrieved 2012-09-18.