Shops ready to fight Tesco expansion bid (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Shops ready to fight Tesco expansion bid
8:00pm Monday 26th July 2010 in
Blandford is braced for a doubling in size of Tesco, with plans to increase its capacity from 23,620 to 43,763 expected in August.
But shopkeepers are not prepared to accept that without a fight.
Jenny Rake, co-owner of ethical food and gift shop, Set Fair4Trade, said the continued attraction of market towns depended largely on independent shops. “[They] bring character and variety. They give a town its flavour.
“People appreciate their individuality, and we need to keep that in Blandford. Small shops need to stand up and fight.” Tesco believes the expansion of the Blandford store will be of mutual benefit, arguing only 15 per cent of locally-generated money stays in the district.
Arfon Hughes, a retail expert with independent planning consultant, DPP, which is handling the proposed expansion, told traders it would affect only one per cent of trade by town centre shops.
But that analysis is rejected by former chamber chairman Trevor Roberts, who fought to limit the percentage of non-food items Tesco sells at the store to 10 per cent when it first opened.
“When Tesco opened, impact studies told us it would be something like two per cent. The Chamber of Trade fought with the planning authority and the percentage of non-food items was limited to 10 per cent.
“We still lost four butchers in the town and four or five petrol stations within a five-mile radius,” said Mr Roberts. “As a trader, I find it hard to believe a 100 per cent increase in the size of the store will affect only one per cent of trade in the town,” he added.
Chamber of trade chairman Trina Horrocks is urging shopkeepers to unite in a bid to prevent the expansion. “We have strong support from customers who say they don’t need a bigger Tesco. The traders need to step forward and take the time to put their view across. We need their help if we’re going to stop it.”
Comments(9)
Zerg
says...
9:54pm Mon 26 Jul 10
Get real its a man eat man world. Why pay expensive prices when you can get it cheaper at Tesco.
sturman
says...
12:13am Tue 27 Jul 10
Maybe that would be a better scenario.
Was Charlie
says...
8:54am Tue 27 Jul 10
dazv wrote:If you really want to be a shelf stacker great!
Just what the town needs. A supermarket that carries a larger range of goods. Bring it on i say! Lets not forget the jobs it will bring!!!!
O'Really
says...
10:58am Tue 27 Jul 10
~
The 93 stores the forum studied were responsible for the net loss of 25,685 employees: every time a large supermarket opened, 276 people lost their jobs. This is hardly surprising. The New Economics Foundation has calculated that every £50,000 spent in small local shops creates one job. You must spend £250,000 in superstores for the same result.
~
In addition to this, profits in the big stores are funnelled into the hands of a few distant shareholders instead of staying in the local community.
~
If we want to see lively and healthy highstreets we are best keeping the superstores well away.
Zerg
says...
3:35pm Tue 27 Jul 10
O'Really wrote:If we want to shop in highly over inflated priced shops with a limited range of goods sure.
Ten years ago, a research organisation called the National Retail Planning Forum - financed by Sainsbury, Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Boots and John Lewis - published a report on the superstores’ impact on employment. It found that there is “strong evidence that superstores have a negative net impact on retail employment up to 15 km away.”
~
The 93 stores the forum studied were responsible for the net loss of 25,685 employees: every time a large supermarket opened, 276 people lost their jobs. This is hardly surprising. The New Economics Foundation has calculated that every £50,000 spent in small local shops creates one job. You must spend £250,000 in superstores for the same result.
~
In addition to this, profits in the big stores are funnelled into the hands of a few distant shareholders instead of staying in the local community.
~
If we want to see lively and healthy highstreets we are best keeping the superstores well away.
gudmenrmist
says...
6:23pm Tue 27 Jul 10
H2oHara
says...
7:44pm Tue 27 Jul 10
Chris@Bmouth
says...
7:53pm Tue 27 Jul 10
Was Charlie wrote:The shelf stackers are usually the ones who are in full time education, or cant be bothered to do well with their education.
dazv wrote: Just what the town needs. A supermarket that carries a larger range of goods. Bring it on i say! Lets not forget the jobs it will bring!!!!If you really want to be a shelf stacker great!
Whereas if you want to work as a manager, and there are a lot of them at the supermarkets, then theyre highly paid
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dazv says...
9:06pm Mon 26 Jul 10