The opening date for a new Asda store in Southport has been revealed.
The new venture is being built at 3A Scarisbrick New Road, near the junction with Virginia Street, after the demolition and decommissioning of the ‘under-performing’ BP Petrol Filling Station and Spar shop.
It will open on Thursday, 22nd February 2024, as the second Asda in Southport, in addition to the superstore at Central 12 retail park.
The new store is among a record 110 convenience stores being opened by the supermarket giant this February as part of a huge expansion.
The company is converting 109 former Co-op and EG Group sites into Asda Express stores, and will also open a new standalone Asda Express store in Birmingham. Asda has already opened 13 of the new stores this month.
The new openings in February mean Asda will hit a milestone 1,000 UK stores. Asda plans to convert 470 convenience sites acquired from the Co-op and EG Group to Asda Express before the end of March, having already switched over 259 shops. The grocer also had eight standalone Asda Express sites already open.
Andy Perry, Asda Vice President of Convenience, said: “Asda’s significant investment in building a nationwide chain of convenience stores is a key component of our long-term strategy to become the number two player in UK grocery. February is a transformational month for the programme with a record number of store openings and conversion of all former Co-op sites to Asda Express sites. The teams have worked at pace to reach this point and we look forward to bringing Asda’s quality and low prices to many more communities across the UK.”
The new Asda store in Southport will create eight new full-time jobs.
It will be over three times as large as the Spar store on site, a growth from 93m² to 350m².
Six years ago plans were submitted to transform the site on Scarisbrick New Road into Southport’s first Starbucks drive through coffee shop, which never materialised.
The planning statement was submitted by Asbri Planning Ltd in Swansea.
In it, they said: “The existing convenience store on site amounts to 93m². It is proposed to increase this to 350m² to provide a local store that is fit for purpose as a top-up function rather than act as a comprehensive convenience store.
“The proposed store will replace the existing convenience store on site and will be located within the centre of the site, where the existing Petrol Filling Station is sited.
“The proposed development will provide 21 customer spaces (including disabled spaces). The car park will also include 2 spaces with charging points encouraging more carbon neutral modes of transport.
“In regard to appearance of the proposed convenience store, it will be engineered to be one storey and comprise a modern design which will comprise a positive enhancement to the site and surrounding area
“It is proposed that the units will operate on a 24-hour basis.
“Finally, the proposed development will result in economic benefits in the form of significant job creation in the form of circa 8 FTE positions.”
The firm revealed that the BP facility was due to be decommissioned because of a lack of customers.
They said: “The Petrol Filling Station is underperforming.
“EG Group, a market leader in the provision of fuel sale throughout the UK are seeking an alternative use in order to avoid the prospect of a long-term vacancy at the site.
“The decommissioning of petrol filling stations is a time consuming and cost hungry process.
“There are few prospective uses which would enable a viable redevelopment to be undertaken and a positive use brought forward at such sites.
“The use of the land as a convenience store would represent such a use and will result in a continuation of retail uses at the site, enable job retention / creation and an increased level of choice and value for customers who will overwhelmingly be drawn from the immediate locality.
“The proposed store is small in scale and not large enough to give rise to impact concerns in respect of existing shopping patterns.”
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Do you need advertising, PR or media support? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrownn@gmail.com
