Iceland Foods got its start back in 1970 when Peter Hinchcliffe and Malcolm Walker opened their first store on Leg Street in Shropshire. They invested one month’s rent and hoped to make a go of it. It was Walker’s wife who suggested the name Iceland since the company originally planned to sell only frozen foods.
By 1977, the business was doing so well they opened another location in Manchester and by the end of 1978, the company had 28 locations to their name.
Iceland’s main products remain frozen foods, but they also offer non-frozen grocery items such as produce, meat, dairy, and dry goods. The company has an approximate 2.2% share of the UK food market.
In May 2014, Iceland reintroduced online shopping, which was dropped in 2007.
Iceland stated in June 2019 that it intended to open at least 34 new locations amid savage competition among grocery store chains.
In July 2019, the company became the first major supermarket to ban the use of plastic bags at its stores.
Iceland has 800 locations in the UK and more than 100 locations in 10 other countries, including Iceland, who is currently contesting the companies use of the name.
