Co-op store in Portswood to close

The Co-op store in Portswood Road, Southampton, which employs 15 people and has been trading since 2009, will close on July 24.

A spokeswoman for the supermarket chain said: “Staff at the store have been informed of the decision, which has been taken with the greatest reluctance and is due to the store’s poor trading performance.

“It is not, in any way, a reflection on the commitment and hard work of the store team.”

She added that every effort will be made to redeploy as many of the three full-time and 12 part-time staff at the store to other Co-ops in the region, or to help them find alternative employment.

The closure comes little more than a year after the Sainsbury’s superstore opened in Portswood Road, and it comes as no surprise to Portswood Liberal Democrat councillor Adrian Vinson.

He said: “Sainsbury’s is a very big store for a district centre and it could have had an impact – so far this is the first closure of another supermarket but I am sure that the Co-operative has seen the writing on the wall for some time.”

“We have a substantial number of convenience stores in the same area and the premise that they could all survive seemed unlikely and the Co-operative is a victim of that.