UPMARKET food giant Marks and Spencer could be on its way to Bromsgrove with a Foodhall on the Birmingham Road, just a minute’s walk from the town centre.
The revelation comes amidst Co-op announcing its store on the Bromsgrove Retail Park is due to close in the middle of May.
This latest development follows the departure of The What! store and the YMCA charity shop which both closed their doors on the site last April.
The retail park was owned by Sainsbury’s which was going to build a supermarket on the site but decided instead to sell it on to Birmingham-owned IM Properties which is now planning to develop the site.
We contacted the company this week and were told it would be in touch in due course with further information about the site.
But a brochure, available to download from the IM Properties website, states that ‘unit 1’ on the site is ‘under offer to M&S’ and an artist’s impression shows the building with an ‘M&S Foodhall’ logo on it.
An M&S spokesperson said: “We do have an interest in developing our food offering in Bromsgrove, but we have nothing to confirm at the moment.”
A spokesperson for the Co-op said: “I can confirm that our store in Birmingham Road, Bromsgrove, will close.
“The Co-op is moving forward with a clear purpose and momentum, and while this often involves opening new stores, we sometimes have to take difficult decisions.
“The decision to close this store has been taken with reluctance, and does not reflect on the commitment and hard work of colleagues, who have been informed.
“Every effort is being made to support colleagues and help them to find alternative positions in the area.”
The town’s Aldi Food Store is still due to be built on the one-and-a-half acre Birmingham Road / Stourbridge Road site opposite, which housed the former DDS&S Club, the old MG Rover car showroom and Imagination Street,
And the Waitrose at the other end of the town centre is near completion – that is due to open in May.
