Costcutter’s first Kwiksave outlet has outlasted the Tesco Metro next door in Little Lever, Bolton, as the grocery multiple prepares to replace the store with a nearby supermarket.
Retailer Bav Parekh launched the Kwiksave in April, having previously traded as a Premier store on the 2,800sq ft site since 2010, when he opened next door to the Tesco Metro.
Now Tesco has won planning permission to replace the 5,000 sq ft Metro store with an 18,500 sq ft supermarket about half a mile away on a former factory site.
Bav admitted he “may have impacted the decision” and that Tesco had possibly admitted defeat by closing its Metro store, which had only been open about five years. “We’ve got a piece of the pie and they don’t like it,” he added.
He said he was not overly concerned by the new supermarket plans. “There are positives and negatives. It’s good they are moving away from us but it’ll be a bigger site. However, they can’t sell non-food items and there won’t be an increase in population – Little Lever is a village and there’s only so much money here. Surrounding areas already have supermarkets so I can’t see it attracting people from there.”
Bav said he planned to take on the proposed supermarket. “Over the next six months we’ll start providing a service they won’t provide.”
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