BIG EXPANSION PLANNED FOR TESCO STORE

SUPERMARKET giant Tesco this week upped the stakes in the emerging ‘store wars’ in Stratford-upon-Avon with the announcement that it is planning to increase the sales area of its premises in Birmingham Road by 50 per cent.

The company stressed that the move had been under consideration for two years and had nothing to do with plans by other supermarket companies. But the announcement undoubtedly will fuel the current controversy over the number of supermarkets in the town, their location and the impact they have on traffic and town centre retailers.

Waitrose recently gained planning permission for a store on Shipston Road on the outskirts of the town. Sainbury’s are in talks with landowners over building a supermarket off Bridgeway, with the promise of a new leisure centre as a ‘sweetener’, while Aldi is in the process of building a store in Birmingham Road. There is also a Morrisons supermarket in Alcester Road and Somerfield in Town Square.

For the full story see this week‘s Herald.