Waitrose, the food shop chain of the John Lewis Partnership, has 136 branches in the south of England, East Anglia, the Midlands and Wales, dedicated to offering quality, value and customer service. The first shop opened in 1904. The John Lewis Partnership acquired the business in 1937 and the first Waitrose supermarket opened in 1955. Waitrose has a relatively large proportion of prosperous older consumers compared to other supermarket chains. Consequently, improvements to the openability of its own-brand ranges could prove beneficial to its many customers and give the company a competitive advantage.