Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Waitrose officially launched a new store in Worcestershire this morning (Thursday May 11), with a helping hand from local schoolchildren.
The pupils joined branch manager Greg Trumper and his team in cutting the ribbon to commemorate the opening of the outlet in the market town of Bromsgrove. Bromsgrove District Council chairman councillor Helen Jones also joined the celebrations.
The students were presented with ‘Grow and Sell’ kits which encourage children to grow their own produce and sell it outside Waitrose stores. The kits aim to develop children’s entrepreneurial skills and educate them on where food comes from and how it’s produced.
The first customer in the store was given a bottle of champagne from the Waitrose team to mark the milestone.
Greg said: “We’re proud to be opening our new store today and have had a fantastic morning welcoming our first customers through the doors and meeting the students. We’re very much looking forward to being part of the community and providing local residents with our latest products and services.”
The 6,000sq ft branch, which has created 50 jobs, includes a cafe as well as a John Lewis click & collect service for online purchases.
The ‘scan as you shop’ service, Waitrose QuickCheck, and the food ordering service Waitrose Entertaining will be available too, in addition to Johnsons Dry Cleaning service.
The supermarket retailer has also announced that it will be launching its Community Matters ‘green token’ initiative, which will see £500 shared between three local causes every month.
The first causes to benefit will be Bromsgrove Crosslinks Befriending Service, Rigby Hall Special Needs School and Basement Project. Around 50 hours will be volunteered to local causes each year by Waitrose’s Bromsgrove staff.
Waitrose has 355 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 65 convenience branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations.
