Sainsbury's confirm Gloucester town centre store will close
The site on Northgate Street will close it's doors for good at the end of the month
A popular town centre Sainsbury's supermarket in Gloucester is set to close despite efforts to save it.
A huge petition launched to save the store on Northgate Street gathered over 700 signatures with local Liberal Democrat councillors also launching a campaign to keep it open.
Bosses at the supermarket giant said the store had "been underperforming for a sustained period' and predicted "many more years" of declining profit.
The announcement will come as a huge disappointment to many locals as the supermarket has become well established in the community after trading for over 50 years.
The store is set to close its doors for good on January 31.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Gloucestershire, and leader of the campaign to save it, Cllr Jeremy Hilton said:
“This is very disappointing news. Loads of people living in Kingsholm and the city centre enjoyed shopping here.
"I remember working at the store as a teenager when it first opened and I have been a regular customer ever since.
“We are in communication with Mountcharm Group the owners of the building to keep abreast of their plans to repurpose the building.
"We want to see a good quality grocery store as next tenants trading off the Northgate Street frontage. We understand the first floor will become apartments.”
Liberal Democrat campaigner Dr Rebecca Trimnell confirmed that both she and Cllr. Hilton met a senior representative Sainsbury to lobby on behalf of the petitioners.
Dr Trimnell said:
“We did have a constructive meeting with Sainsbury's and some of our suggestions were considered further, but back in December we received confirmation that sadly the store will close.
This week they have told us the store is mostly likely to close on the 30th of January. It really does feel like the end of an era”.
In a letter confirming the store's closure, a Sainsbury's spokesperson said:
"Unfortunately, I must advise you that we will still be closing this store in January 2021.
"I understand that you may be disappointed by this decision, but it has been underperforming for a sustained period and we believe it would remain loss making for many years to come.
"Please be assured that we do not close stores lightly, but to ensure that we can meet our customers needs both now and, in the future, sometimes we must make difficult decisions.
"Our priority now is doing everything we can to find alternative roles within Sainsbury's for colleagues affected by this closure, and the Gloucester community will still be able to shop with us at other nearby stores."