Superstore 10 years in the planning opens
AFTER ten years of planning, reviews and excited expectation, Sainsbury’s has finally opened its huge new superstore in Southport.
The long-awaited new supermarket features Sainsbury’s usual fresh food goods and has incorporated a new Argos store and a Costa Coffee.
The Sainsbury’s retail space encompasses 44,710 sq ft and is centred around a state-of-the-art food hall, a bakery and fruit and vegetables section.
The store will also sell Sainsbury’s exclusive Tu clothing range and Habitat homeware products.
The outside area has a new Smart Charge Hub with eight ultra-rapid EV charging bays and a Changing Places Toilet to help ensure the store is accessible for all customers.
Sainsbury’s had previously proposed the creation of a new petrol filling station but replaced it with EV charging bays instead. The new facility will allow customers to charge EVs at one of eight 150kW+ charging bays in just 30 minutes – providing enough power to travel 200 miles.
Ash Metcalfe, Sainsbury’s Southport Meols Cop store manager, said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming customers through the doors of our brand-new store today and we look forward to getting to know many of them in the months and years to come.
“This is a really proud moment for me and my team as we launch an amazing new supermarket that puts our commitment to providing good food for all of us into practice for the benefit of all our customers in and around Southport.”
In addition, the store will be an active member of Sainsbury’s Nourish The Nation Programme including its food donation partnership with Neighbourly, which works to reduce the amount of food waste within its operations and redistribute surplus food to those who need it most.
Sainsbury’s new outlet will make it one of the largest retail options in Southport and has created 150 new jobs for people in the town.
Cllr Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning, previously said of Sainsbury’s new store: “To say this development has been a challenge would be an understatement and a disservice to our incredibly hard working planning officers.
“When factoring in preapplication guidance this has been a decade long process for our communities, the applicant and ourselves.
“After careful consideration and investigations we recommended the initial application for the Meols Cop site be approved.”