SavaCentre was a chain of 13 hypermarkets and later a further seven discount supermarkets owned and operated jointly by Sainsbury's and BHS, beginning in 1977.

The first SavaCentre opened at The Galleries, Washington, Tyne and Wear, on 15 November 1977,[1] with 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m2) of sales area, and the slogan "The store with more for less.".

In March 1980, the third SavaCentre opened adjacent to the Eastgate Shopping Centre in Basildon with 71,000 sq ft (6,600 m2) of sales area, but this store was sold to Asda in 2004.

The Calcot SavaCentre was further extended by 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) in the 1990/91 financial year, but when the store was rebranded as Sainsbury's in 2005, the extension was sold off to Next with other shops Sports Direct, Dunelm and Boots.

At the time of building the Cameron Toll SavaCentre was Scotland's largest single level store.

The deal also allowed Sainsbury's to integrate the company more fully with its existing food retailing chain, whilst retaining a separate management structure.

The SavaCentre in Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield, opened in September 1990 with 99,973 sq ft (9,287.8 m2) of sales area.

Also in 1995, the Stockton-on-Tees SavaCentre opened, with 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m2) of sales area, which was a former North Eastern Co-op store, and was later sold to Tesco in 2003.

In 1997 a SavaCentre opened in the White Rose Centre, off the M62 motorway, in Morley, West Yorkshire, in Leeds, with 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m2) of sales area.

A fifteenth SavaCentre hypermarket was planned for Romford, East London, but this store also only eventually opened as a large Sainsbury's.

Tesco pursued an aggressive expansion of its hypermarket format, converting existing stores through extensions, and paying high prices for larger pieces of land to build new ones.

On 2 August 1997, Sainsbury's decided to launch a strategic review of its SavaCentre hypermarket format with the help of Coopers and Lybrand.

Obtaining planning permission for stores of these sizes in out-of-town locations was difficult, and there was also stiff competition from specialist non-food retailers at the time.

Non-food was based around four areas: Celebration – for party ideas; Indulgence – for beauty products; Baby and Toddler; and Cookshop.

The chairman of Savacentre Ian Coull, MD Jack O'Brien and other board members all resigned.

The Calcot SavaCentre was downsized and rebranded as Sainsbury's in 2005, but following a further refurbishment in 2008, a number of the products removed in the 1998 revamp were reintroduced.

These stores were aimed at family shoppers with a much stronger emphasis on Economy ranges than a core Sainsbury's Supermarket.

The former SavaCentres in London Colney and Colliers Wood, Merton are now joint-ventures with Marks & Spencer, and have the external fascia 'Sainsbury's M&S'.

In 2008, the London Sydenham and Oldbury SavaCentres were remodelled to trial a launch of a 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) non-food offer.

An extended range of Homewares, Bedding and Kitchenware launched under the TU brand, previously used only for Clothing.

The Kempshott, Basingstoke branch was extended to 71,139 sq ft (6,609.0 m2) of sales area and was both opened and reopened by Life President Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover himself in November 1988 and 25 August 2010 respectively.