Plea on building as Cannock Lidl shuts
A supermarket in Cannock which is closing its doors this weekend must not be allowed to stand empty for too long, the town's council leader has said.
George Adamson has branded the Saturday closure of Lidl, in Church Street, as a shame.
But he called for something to be done with the vacant shop unit, which stands on a retail park near McDonalds and Blockbuster, as soon as possible.
Councillor Adamson said: "It is a great shame. There is a lot of competition, however, in that area. I hope that the jobs are not being lost and something is made of the vacant store quickly."
It is believed the empty Lidl store will be merged with a neighbouring empty unit but it is not yet known if anyone has taken over the site.
A large banner has gone up outside the store to inform customers of its closure. The Lidl store is just a stone's throw away from a Morrisons supermarket and a large Asda store. Earlier this year, Lidl announced it would be creating around 1,000 jobs as it opened up to 50 new UK stores following a multi-million pound investment.
The German-owned firm operates around 600 stores nationwide, employing 11,000 staff and says it will be hiring for jobs across the business.
It unveiled the growth plan as it revealed that strong Christmas sales boosted its December figures by 11 per cent. Bosses have said they are on the look-out for new larger premises in Staffordshire and said all staff who want to remain with the company will get jobs in other stores.
A new supermarket has opened in Staffordshire in the past few months.
Tesco opened its doors in Hednesford before Christmas as part of the £50 million revamp of the town centre.
Construction of the 10-acre regeneration project for Hednesford town centre began in April 2011 after developer St Modwen was granted planning approval by Cannock Chase Council.
