Waitrose to exit Colmore Row

Little Waitrose on Colmore Row (Credit: Elliott Brown / CC BY 2.0)

Waitrose is to exit its convenience store on Colmore Row in Birmingham’s business district after agreeing a sale to a competitor.

It became the first Little Waitrose site outside of the M25 when it opened in 2011.

However it has revealed it is going to sell the site to the Co-op Group, along with three other stores in Manchester and London, with staff transfering over. Aldi is also buying a supermarket from Waitrose in Camden.

Waitrose retail director Ben Stimson said: “The sale of these shops is not something we take lightly, but we have accepted offers for them as it is sadly – despite the best efforts of everyone involved – not commercially viable for us to continue trading from them in the long term.”

The disposals come as Waitrose’s parent company, the John Lewis Partnership, warned of challenges ahead.

The group said it expects its full year profit to be “substantially lower” compared with the previous year’s figures.

Despite announcing £500m of fresh investment over the next few years, the Partnership’s woes reflect the current parlous state of trading on the high street.

Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “It is very important that we feel the jeopardy of what is happening right now.”

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