Waitrose to open fifth store
Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: "Waitrose Newton Mearns, together with our plans for a fifth store in Helensburgh, is a further demonstration of our ambitions to make our brand far more accessible to Scottish consumers."
The brand receives thousands of letters every year from residents keen to secure a store in their area.
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Hide AdThe Helensburgh branch will be the first Scottish Waitrose store outside Edinburgh or Glasgow. The chain looks likely to expand further in the west of Scotland after opening a distribution centre in Lanarkshire.
Darrel Hendrie, convener of Helensburgh community council, welcomed the arrival of the store, which is earmarked for a site on the outskirts of the town centre, opposite the Hermitage Academy school. A planning application will be lodged with the local council later this year.
"We have wanted a new supermarket in Helensburgh for quite some time - people often travel to Dumbarton to do their shopping," he said.
"Quite a few residents have previously expressed that they would like something like a Marks & Spencer food store, so I think they will be pleased with Waitrose - it's a similar kind of shop and I think it is a good fit for Helensburgh, which has a number of quite upmarket areas."