The opening date has been revealed for the new Tesco Express store in Southport town centre.
The store, at the entrance to Southport Railway Station at 50-52 Chapel Street, will open at 8am on Friday, 1st April.
The new Tesco convenience store will generally be open between 6am and 11pm each day.
The signs at the front of the shop and signage in the concourse of the railway station have now been installed, with final work now taking place.
It will be the third Tesco store in Southport town centre with the new Chapel Street venture joining existing stores on Eastbank Street and Albert Road.
The new Tesco will replace the former Roman clothes shop.
The nearest Roman stores are now either 8 miles away in Preston or 18 miles away in Blackpool.
Planning permission for the new Tesco Express store was granted by Sefton Council in July last year.
The investment comes at a busy time for Chapel Street and the town centre area, with the opening of The Fragrance Shop and the new One Below store in July last year.
Earlier this month, planning permission was granted for 30 new apartments on the upper floors of the former BHS department store, while Sefton Council is due to invest £400,000 on repairing and renovating Cambridge Arcade.
Nearby, the new look Southport Market opened in July following a £1.4million transformation; the new Beales department store opened on Lord Street in August; and a £1million redevelopment of the former Tasker Sports / Christ Church School building on Corporation is underway to create a new Techedia HQ with the creation of 75 new jobs.
The Tesco planning applications for Chapel Street called for the installation of a new shop front including a telescopic sliding door to the front of the building plus the display of three illuminated and three non-illuminated signs.
In his report, Sefton Council Chief Planning Officer Derek McKenzie wrote: “This application affects a unit adjacent to the Lord Street Conservation Area and within the buffer zone of several non-designated heritage assets. However I do not consider the proposed shopfront will cause any significant detrimental impact to these assets.
“The design of the shop front is acceptable and no harm would be created to the street scene.”
There were no representations made by any of the new store’s neighbours.
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrown@gmail.com
