Aldi planning new Cannock shopping centre store to ease pressure on 'over-trading' branches
A new Aldi is opening on the doorstep of two existing stores to meet demand because they are already bringing in millions more pounds than expected.
Proposals have been submitted for Aldi to take on two units on Orbital Retail Park in Cannock, a former Argos site and the adjacent site occupied by Boots.
It will see about 40 new jobs created and help "relieve pressure" on existing Aldi stores – one just 0.8 miles away on Walsall Street, Cannock, and another 3 miles away on Victoria Street, Hednesford, planners say.
A planning and retail statement, put forward by the owners of Orbital Retail Park, cited the Cannock Chase Retail and Town Centre Uses Study released in January last year.
The report revealed the Walsall Road store is turning over £17.8 million against a benchmark of £8.9m, whilst the Victoria Street store was bringing in £23.1m instead of £7.1m over 2020.
It means the two stores currently trade around £24.9m above their benchmark turnover which is "more than enough" to support another store in the area, the planning statement added.
And this significant over-trading means the budget supermarket's stores cannot "fully meet customer expectations" and there needed to be another branch in the area for shoppers.
The planning and retail statementsaid: "Both the existing Aldi stores on Walsall Street on the edge of Cannock Town Centre, and on Victoria Street in Hednesford are significantly over-trading and are therefore no longer able to fully meet customer expectations.
"The new store will relieve pressure on the existing stores, and will create a significant number of new jobs at the site. The proposals represent a significant investment by the applicant and Aldi in Cannock, while at the same time securing a long-term occupier for the units."
The store, if approved, will be in close proximity to both Sainsbury's and M&S Food – and Boots, which occupies one of the units Aldi could move into, will be relocated on the site into a vacant unit.
It comes after the supermarket announced last year it wanted to open more stores across Staffordshire including Cannock, Codsall and Lichfield, as part of a target of having 1,200 stores across the UK by 2025.
The company was looking freehold town-centre or edge-of-centre sites suitable for development – including sites with parking spaces on a prominent main road with good visibility and access.
The plans for the store at the Orbital Retail Park have been recommended for approval and are expected to be signed off by Cannock Chase District Council's planning committee on Wednesday.
