EVESHAM’s £10million Waitrose store will open ‘later this year’ after council chiefs and the retail giant admitted recent bad weather had caused delays to the project
Builders from Midas Retail Limited moved on site last June to construct the 28,145 sq ft store on Merstow Green after the town’s former fire station was demolished.
Wychavon District Council is funding the project and the authority will make its money back with Waitrose renting the building on a 20 year lease. The new store is expected to create 150 jobs when it opens.
The Observer reported in October how building work was gathering pace with builders expecting to hand the finished building over to Waitrose by March ahead of an opening later in the spring.
But the freezing temperatures and heavy snow over the winter has forced a delay to the project to bring Waitrose to the town.
Wychavon’s deputy managing director Vic Allison said: “Our contractors are working hard to get the building ready as soon as possible and Waitrose remain fully committed to the project.
“Due to adverse weather conditions and technical issues with construction works, the building will unfortunately not be completed as scheduled.
“The intention is to open the new store later in the year and we look forward to welcoming Waitrose to Evesham.”
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “We look forward to the building being ready so we can finalise our opening programme and update local people.”
