Sainsbury's is the second largest chain of
supermarkets in the United Kingdom with a share of the UK supermarket sector of 16.9%. Founded in 1869 by
John James Sainsbury with a shop in
Drury Lane, London, the company became the largest
grocery retailer in 1922, was an early adopter of self-service retailing in the UK, and had its heyday during the 1980s. In 1995,
Tesco overtook Sainsbury's to become the market leader, and
Asda became the second largest in 2003, demoting Sainsbury's to third place for most of the subsequent period until 2014, when Sainsbury's regained 2nd place. The holding company,
J Sainsbury plc, is split into three divisions,
Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, Sainsbury's Convenience Stores Ltd (
Sainsbury's Local), and
Sainsbury's Bank. The group's head office is in the Sainsbury's Store Support Centre in
Holborn Circus,
City of London. The group also has interests in property.
