Sainsbury's (also Sainsbury and JS)-(Public, LON:SBRY), the third largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom with a share of the UK supermarket sector of 16.3%. The group also has interests in property and banking. Sainsbury's was founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann (née Staples), in London, England, and grew rapidly during the Victorian era. It grew to become the largest grocery retailer in 1922, pioneered self-service retailing in the UK, and its heyday was during the 1980s
On March 4, 2009, it announced the acquisition of 24 stores from the Co-operative Group comprising 22 Somerfield branded stores and two Co-operative branded stores.
On 18 February 2009, the Company acquired Town Centre Retail (Bicester) Limited.
As of March 17, 2012, the Company operated over 1,000 stores comprising 572 supermarkets and 440 convenience stores. Investment properties held by the Company are those contained within its joint ventures with Land Securities Group PLC and The British Land Company PLC. The Company’s Click & Collect service allows customers to place general merchandise orders online by 2pm for collection the following day from over 900 stores. Its general merchandise Website offers more than 6,000 branded and own brand products. In October 2011, it acquired online entertainment company, Global Media Vault Limited. In June 2012, J Sainsbury PLC acquired HMV Group plc's holding in Anobii Limited.