UK supermarket shuts after more than 100 years – ‘huge loss’ | UK | News
A UK supermarket that has been serving local people for more than 100 years is closing its doors today after it became clear there was no viable path forward for the business. It comes at a time when industry experts are sharing concerns about the health of the high street and retail sector generally, with things like rising costs causing financial difficulties for many businesses. Today (Saturday, June 27), residents of Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire are bidding farewell to their Midcounties Co-op Food store.
Despite being the only supermarket in the village of more than 1,000 people, he said he had to make the “difficult decision” to close because there was no “viable” way to continue operating. Locals will now need to travel more than a mile into Berinsfield to reach the nearest supermarket. Locals have praised the store in the past, especially for the friendliness of the staff.
One local resident said: “It’s a really great little shop in the village with friendly staff. It’s a shame they’re closing it down as it will be a huge loss for the residents.”
Another review writes: “Small but very good. It’s nice to have a wonderful little shop in a village like this.”
A third wrote: “Always excellent service and a remarkable selection considering the size of the store.”
A spokesperson for the Midcounties Co-operative said in May: “As a member-owned Co-operative Society, we regularly inspect our properties to ensure our stores are profitable and provide a significant purpose within the communities they serve.
“As part of this process and after careful consideration, the community has taken the difficult decision to close our Dorchester-on-Thames store.
“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of all our colleagues, the store has been financially unsustainable for some time and there is no viable opportunity to improve the store’s financial position.
“We also explored other options in the local area to potentially move to, but unfortunately in this case we were unable to find another suitable location.
“Our first priority is to offer our support to all colleagues during what we know will be a difficult period. We have now entered a period of formal consultation with affected colleagues and will seek to identify suitable alternative roles within our wider community where possible.”
Meanwhile, Dorchester District Council said in a statement shortly after the announcement: “This clearly raises a number of questions for us as a community that values its shop.
“In response to this news, we would like to inform you that the parish council is already discussing with the parties behind the scenes ways to keep the store on the site, but it is not possible to share further details on this at this stage.”
