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Waitrose Storrington to open 4th March.

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Co-operative acquisition boosts portfolio by 5 branches

Waitrose has today announced the acquisition of five shops from The Co-operative Group, which results in 500 new employees joining the business.

The retailer, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, has entered into an agreement to buy four Somerfield stores at Ashbourne, Melksham, Storrington and Wellington, along with a Co-operative shop in Menai Bridge. ¹

All existing employees will become Partners within the John Lewis Partnership². In addition Waitrose will be recruiting up to a further 60 employees for each shop.

The five confirmed shops will take the Waitrose estate to 227 stores across the UK, providing over 50,000 sqft of additional selling space, and will increase its presence in regions where Waitrose is currently under represented. ³

Today's acquisition means that Waitrose will be able to open its first shop in North Wales, second in Derbyshire, third in Wiltshire and sixth in West Sussex by Spring 2010.

Waitrose Director of Development, Nigel Keen, comments, 'It's great to welcome employees from Somerfield and The Co-operative into the Partnership and we're looking forward to introducing more customers to our fabulous food and high standards of customer service.'

All stores will be open by spring next year.

Waitrose has a successful track record of converting shops acquired from other retailers, with previous acquisitions having been warmly received by shoppers.

Customers at the new food shops can expect a wide range of fresh foods including dedicated meat, fish, delicatessen, patisserie and cheese service counters, together with the supermarket's award-winning wine collection.

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