Sainsbury’s Cambridge petrol station marks 50th anniversary

JS Journal, Sainsbury’s staff magazine, said petrol was 68p a gallon when “the average price of four-star in the area is 73p”

The Sainsbury Archive A man filling a car at a petrol station in 1975. He has his back to the viewer, is facing a white petrol pump and is holding the petrol feed which is filling a an orange car. He is wearing a white shirt tucked into brown trousers. Above his car is a sign saying petrol 68p — JS Journal, Sainsbury’s staff magazine, said petrol was 68p a gallon when “the average price of four-star in the area is 73p”

It is 50 years since a supermarket chain opened its first petrol station – proudly describing the pumps as “space-age”.

On the new Sainsbury’s forecourt in Coldham’s Lane , Cambridge, the unbranded four-star petrol was 68p a gallon, or 15p a litre. That equates to £1.14 a litre now.

Sainsbury’s had planned to open it on 3 December 1974, when it unveiled its first store on the outskirts of an established city, but delays manufacturing the pumps pushed the launch back to 10 January 1975.

Drivers “sometimes faced a 10-minute wait as the electronic payment system struggled to keep up with the high demand”, according to George Cooban, from the Sainsbury Archive.

The company described the six petrol pumps as “space-age”

The Sainsbury Archive A back view of a man in a jacket standing behind a car and in front of a white petrol pump. He is filling the white car with his right hand. It is dusk and beyond the forecourt can be seen a Sainsbury's store and leafless trees framed against the sky — The company described the six petrol pumps as “space-age”

Sainsbury’s said the six pumps at the on-site, self-service petrol station were “space-age”, adding that “unlike most service stations” customers could pay “without getting out of a car”.

The supermarket chain had had a branch in the centre of the university city since 1925, but was keen to expand.

Its initial planning application to build at Coldham’s Lane was turned down by Cambridge City Council, but Sainsbury’s won on appeal.

The first day’s sales exceeded its targets by 150%, according to the supermarket

The Sainsbury Archive A black and white image of people queuing in a carpark in front of a Sainsbury's store in 1975 — The first day’s sales exceeded its targets by 150%, according to the supermarket

Conservative MP Jim Prior (right) and company chairman John Davan Sainsbury welcomed shoppers as the doors opened

The Sainsbury Archive A black and white image showing women coming in through the entrance of a supermarket in 1975. One in the middle has shoulder-length hair and is wearing a short sleeved jumper over a white shirt and is shaking hands with MP Jim Prior. He is wearing a dark suit and tie and has slicked-back grey hair — Conservative MP Jim Prior (right) and company chairman John Davan Sainsbury welcomed shoppers as the doors opened

Assistant archivist Mr Cooban, who is based at the Sainsbury Archive at London Museum Docklands, said long queues appeared outside the branch when it was opened in December.

“Some wanted to get ahead with their Christmas shopping,” he said.

“There were national shortages of certain staple foods at the time so ‘bread hunters and sugar-seekers’ contributed to the high footfall as well.”

Sainsbury’s had imported icing sugar from West Germany during the national sugar shortage and shoppers may have been keen to get their hands on some of it (above) for Christmas baking

The Sainsbury Archive A black and white image of men and women in 1974 in a supermarket, pushing supermarket trolleys and looking at a just seen pile of sugar in front of them. Above it is a sign saying icing sugar — Sainsbury’s had imported icing sugar from West Germany during the national sugar shortage and shoppers may have been keen to get their hands on some of it (above) for Christmas baking

The shop was large enough for the supermarket chain to start selling electrical goods, kitchenware, cosmetics and gardening tools

The Sainsbury Archive An interior shot of Sainsbury's, Cambridge, in about 1975. It shows women in an aisle and on their right are piles of kitchenware and electrical goods — The shop was large enough for the supermarket chain to start selling electrical goods, kitchenware, cosmetics and gardening tools

The car park had 376 spaces, which filled within minutes on the opening day.

Mr Cooban said: “The size of the store allowed Sainsbury’s to experiment with non-food products it had not sold before, including electrical goods, kitchenware, household linens, cosmetics, stationery and even gardening and DIY tools.”

On opening, it was the chain’s fourth largest branch, with a sales area of 2,271sq m (24,000sq ft), and a freezer centre next door.