Supermarket firm has its eye on Warwick
SUPERMARKET giant Asda admitted this week that it would love to open a store in Warwick and has been “looking for quite a long time at different sites.”
Rumours in the town are that the Opus 40 Business Park, the former IBM site on the edge of town, has been identified as a possible location.
But Oliver Jones, Asda’s senior property communications officer, said: “We definitely have no concrete plans on that or any other site in Warwick at the moment.
“However, for customers not living close to our Sydenham superstore we would love to be able to open in Warwick, which would cut down on journey times for many shoppers. Historically, however, we have always struggled to find a site because of the tightness of the town.”
Mr Jones added that if in the future a spot was identified, either in the town or on the edge of town, he would anticipate a smaller store being proposed - no bigger than two-thirds of the size of the one in Sydenham.
Warwick town clerk Derek Maudlin said: “So far we have heard nothing about any proposals by Asda to come to Warwick and it is surprising if another major supermarket should be looking to relocate to a town which already has three Sainsburys - including the one on the borders of Leamington - along with a Tesco, Lidl and Marks and Spencers Simply Food store.
“Any consideration regarding such a proposal would need to be closely examined to ensure it did not have a negative effect on the town centre. Members of the county council, district and town council have already set up a working party to examine how the retail element and daytime economy of Warwick can be improved.”
The council’s working party is separate from the Warwick Town Team, made up of retailers, townsfolk, former mayor Trudy Offer and county council communications officer Jack Linstead who are working to improve the local economy and trying again to win the expert guidance of Government’s retail guru Mary Portas.
In the meantime they have received a total of £16,000 to promote the image of the area following the recent roadworks which drove trade away. The money is made up of £10,000 from the county council, £5,000 from the district council and £1,000 from the town council.
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Weather for Warwick
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 11 C
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