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Upmarket food store Waitrose pulls in the shoppers to Leigh

7:00am Friday 26th June 2009 in


HUNDREDS of shoppers headed to the new Waitrose in London Road, Leigh, yesterday.

Long queues built up at the tills in the store, but there were plenty of staff on hand to help.

The upmarket chain has offered jobs to all staff at the Somerfield store it has replaced.

Yesterday staff welcomed shoppers in and offered 5,000 free long-life plastic bags to encourage them to reuse and recycle plastic bags.

Area manager Wayne Narraway said: “Leigh is the perfect place for us to open a new store as there is a strong demand for quality food here.

“We are keen to build on the success of our other branches in Essex and neighbouring counties and make the Waitrose brand more accessible to people in the area.”

The John Lewis-owned chain has recently launched a Waitrose Essentials range of ethically-produced and affordable grocery staples.

For the first year, shoppers will be able to vote for one of three local projects every month. The votes will be used to calculate how a £1,000 donation will be split among the groups.

Mr Narraway added: “We’re looking forward to becoming an active member of the community.

“We would like to invite customers to join us in putting forward the names of the causes they would like to see us support over the coming months.”

Peter Ibbotson, the store’s new manager, said: “Judging by this morning, local people are really pleased that we are here. We are really pleased to be here and be part of the community.”

Comments(11)

ghostwriter says...
8:29am Fri 26 Jun 09

"Leigh is the perfect place for us to open a new store" so there you have it; more money then sense.

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clangrid says...
10:56am Fri 26 Jun 09

ghostwriter wrote:
"Leigh is the perfect place for us to open a new store" so there you have it; more money then sense.
That's just it though. They don't really have that much money - they just think they do!

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Soozie says...
11:25am Fri 26 Jun 09

Waitrose is cheaper to shop at than marks and Spencers.

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DannyK86 says...
12:54pm Fri 26 Jun 09

Waitrose isn't much more expensive than Somerfield anyway!

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richardandrews says...
2:56pm Fri 26 Jun 09

Actually DannyK is right, Waitrose isn't more expensive than Somerfield. They have their own essentials range which is keenly priced, and their produce is the freshest and best quality of all the supermarkets. Best of all, it keeps all the dirty little chavs away which can only be good for everyone. They can stick to Lidl and Aldi and that makes me HAPPY!!

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ghostwriter says...
6:18pm Fri 26 Jun 09

Can't find Southchurch Village on the map is it that row of take aways on Southchurch Road.

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evilc says...
10:53am Sat 27 Jun 09

Pay a little more and get a lot more.

Pay less get less.


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Tone-Fu says...
11:48am Sat 27 Jun 09

Waitrose think it's okay to mark things up by 90% just because they keep the aisles clean and their staff tidy.

You don't get better quality, you get the same branded products as you get in Tesco, just for 90% more money.

The bright folk of Leigh will lap it up because people will see Waitrose vans delivering to their places!

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DannyMac says...
10:00am Mon 29 Jun 09

I've been re-packing my Lidl shopping into Waitrose bags for years..... so I can show off to the neighbours when I unload the boot of my car. How's that for bright Tone-Fu ?

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siddymint says...
6:39am Fri 3 Jul 09

active part of the community, I phoned my Leigh town councillor for the store area, knew nothing about it opening and not invited to see the opening, phoned my Belfairs coucillor same. So off to a good start

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reddart says...
6:19pm Wed 8 Jul 09

A waitrose in Leigh is great...now on the other hand can someone explain who agreed to allow an amusement arcade in the Broadway!? Cant wait for the fights/drunks/litter etc. Brilliant.

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