First Choice to install futuristic travel pods in supermarkets
First Choice is introducing futuristic ‘travel pods’ in Asda and Sainsbury’s stores throughout the UK.
Starting from the end of next month, it will trial the portable and brochure-free units at Asda stores in Sheffield, Basildon, Milton Keynes
and Sportcity, Manchester, as well as Sainsbury’s in Torquay and Knotty Ash, Liverpool.
The 250-foot pods will sell travel and foreign exchange seven days a week and are expected to add the same levels of turnover as its current 36 Asda concessions, which is generally around 20% less than its high street shops.
Pods will be brochure free and instead staff will use the internet and will make colour print outs at customers’ requests.
The Asda pods will be branded First Choice, while the Sainsbury’s Bank pods will be branded as Travel Centres.
First Choice Retail managing director Cheryl Powell said she came up with the concept when having her nails done in a portable nail bar.
“The concept of the ‘Travel Pod’ is something that we have been developing for a while – it can be easily moved and is economic to produce.
“We have found that the relationship with supermarkets has worked well for us. The ‘Travel Pod’ takes up very little space and provides us with more opportunities to work with our supermarket partners, so I hope that this is going be successful and the first of many.”
Under the new agreement with Sainsbury’s, First Choice will also be conducting two other trials over the next six months in four stores.
These include managing Sainsburysbank Foreign Exchange Bureau in two other supermarkets and also selling foreign exchange from a finance counter.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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