New-build store continues Waitrose's Scottish expansion

Published on Thursday 8 April 2010 21:06

WAITROSE, the supermarket division of the John Lewis Partnership, is set to extend its presence in Scotland with the opening of its first new-build store north of the Border.

Councillors have granted planning permission for the 25,000sqft store in the Newton Mearns suburb of Glasgow, which will be the largest Waitrose outlet to date in Scotland. It will lead to the creation of 200 jobs when construction is completed in the early part of next year.

The store forms the second phase of the new Greenlaw Neighbourhood Centre, a 30 million mixed-use development in the heart of Newton Mearns. It also sits within the UK-wide growth strategy first outlined by Waitrose after last year's acquisition of 13 stores from the Co-operative Group, setting the stage for the biggest expansion in the supermarket chain's history.

A spokesman said: "Waitrose is committed to building its presence in Scotland and Newton Mearns is another exciting step forward in achieving our long-term aspirations here."

Waitrose entered the Scottish market four years ago, and currently has stores at Byres Road in Glasgow, and Comely Bank and Morningside in Edinburgh. The company said last July it could open as many as 25 Scottish stores within five years.

Elsewhere in the supermarket sector, Scotmid announced yesterday that it would sell its largest store, in Leith, to Tesco in a multi-million-pound deal.

Tesco will take possession of the store in May, with all 86 staff transferring to its employment. The Semichem store within the Leith supermarket will close, and its seven staff will be transferred to other stores within the Scotmid-owned chain.

John Brodie, chief executive of Scotmid, said the disposal was in line with the company's strategy to provide convenience retailing from smaller outlets. Most Scotmid shops are in the region of 3,000-4,000sqft, whereas the Leith site is 40,000sqft.