New store for village high street

Booths will vacate the outlet in Woodlands Road when it opens a new superstore at Heyhouses Lane, St Annes next year.

And the coming of the Co-op has been greeted enthusiastically by an Ansdell traders’ representative.

“I’m really pleased,” said Helen Ashton, secretary of Ansdell Business Traders’ Group.

“We wanted an occupant for the store which is of a similar calibre to Booths and I think the Co-op is good news.

“That store attracts a lot of people into the area which benefits the other traders. We tend to get left out a little compared to Lytham and St Annes and it’s important that the store continues to be an asset to our area.

“We need a chemist in Ansdell after the last one moved out of Woodlands Road some time ago and if one of those was included in the new store, that would be ideal.”

When it opens, the Co-operative Food store will offer a wide selection of fresh and chilled products, the premium Truly Irresistible range, ready meals, in-store bakery and a range of wines.

The Co-operative already has stores locally in Lytham, St Annes, Kirkham, Wesham, Freckleton and Warton and Chris Moss, regional acquisitions manager for The Co-operative Group, said: “A convenience store with a strong emphasis on fresh produce will enable us to build upon an established customer base and we are very confident the new store will be an asset to the area.”

Booths’ new 20,000ft Booths food store at Heyhouses, set for next September, is being developed as part of a regeneration scheme, being delivered by Worthington Properties, on the site previously occupied by the Department for Works and Pensions.

A 15-year deal has been signed by Booths to let the Woodlands Road store and Graham Booth, Booths’ property director, said: “We understand the importance of a food store in Ansdell to thelocal community and have been negotiating for some time to ensure that it remains as a convenience store.”