Store plans are in
Budget supermarket will move across town
BUDGET retail giant Lidl has submitted its plans to transform the old HJ Hall sock factory into a multi-million pound store.
The planning application for the site on Coventry Road will be dealt with at a forthcoming council meeting.
If given the green light it will see the supermarket relocate from its current home on Hawley Road ,which has been open for around 11 years and was one of the first to launch when Lidl entered the UK market in 1994.
Now Lidl say it has outgrown the site and is unable to redevelop there due to land constraints.
An application statement explains: “Lidl has sought to improve its store operating practices over the years to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of its customers, whilst keeping cost to a minimum, thereby delivering exceptional value across its product range.
“To this end, the store format has evolved and Lidl has found that many of its older and smaller stores, including this one, are now unable to be stocked and serviced efficiently.
“Some of the company’s exist- ing stores need to be replaced to ensure that customers continue to benefit from the quality and positive shopping experience that Lidl offers.”
While the new store will be bigger it will not necessarily stock a larger range of goods but it will mean more stock can be kept in depth, ensuring products do not run out between delivery days - one of the problems with a smaller footprint.
Staff will transfer and up to 10 new jobs are expected to be created by the move.
On offer to customers will be an in-store bakery as well as ample parking for the larger, brighter and more modern building than the current site.
Lidl’s application makes much of delivering a sustainable facility, with sensor lighting, waste recycling and low maintenance building materials which will not require repainting.
The German firm was named Best Supermarket 2016 by readers of Good Housekeeping magazine and has seen continued growth in the UK.
The HJ Hall factory, opened in 1977 and at one point employing up to 300 staff, is being demolished.
It closed last year bringing sock manufacturing by HJ Hall in Hinckley to an end after more than 130 years.
The 2.25 acre site was on sale for a freehold price of £1.5 million. Lidl exchanged contracts on the site in August and ran a public consultation on its store plans last month.
Demolition work is expected to last until Christmas.