One year after Co-op cited Tesco as the reason why it closed its Porthmadog store in September 2005, a second supermarket in the town will be pulling down the shutters for the last time this October. 21 jobs will go to add to the 23 reportedly lost when Co-op closed. It is not clear how many of these are full time positions.
Like most of its stores, Somerfield was recently modernised from the KwikSave brand, but this transformation was only last year. The store’s been in the town for some 30 years.
Reports do not state whether the closure is a direct result of Tesco. Instead, it may be pressure from both ends of the supermarket continuum, as cheaper Lidl opened in Porthmadog last year. Tesco has traded in Porthmadog for two years.
The former Porthmadog Co-op site remains unsold.
Meanwhile, under-construction ASDA at Pwllheli has applied to Gwynedd council to modify the percentage of goods it sells that are non-food from 10 to 33 per cent, angering the town’s smaller traders, who fear for a collapse in their trade if the revision is approved. A spokesman for the chamber of trade called this a “virtual massacre”. Quoting the effect of Tesco on Porthmadog, he stated that Tesco’s 10 per cent non-food was having a considerable affect on small businesses in that town. ASDA, now part of Wal-Mart and once owned by Associated Dairies, is due to open in Pwllheli in November, with the creation of 120 full and part-time jobs. In spite of opposition from traders and town council, the original application was granted by Gwynedd councillors, in February 2006.
Like most of its stores, Somerfield was recently modernised from the KwikSave brand, but this transformation was only last year. The store’s been in the town for some 30 years.
Reports do not state whether the closure is a direct result of Tesco. Instead, it may be pressure from both ends of the supermarket continuum, as cheaper Lidl opened in Porthmadog last year. Tesco has traded in Porthmadog for two years.
The former Porthmadog Co-op site remains unsold.
Meanwhile, under-construction ASDA at Pwllheli has applied to Gwynedd council to modify the percentage of goods it sells that are non-food from 10 to 33 per cent, angering the town’s smaller traders, who fear for a collapse in their trade if the revision is approved. A spokesman for the chamber of trade called this a “virtual massacre”. Quoting the effect of Tesco on Porthmadog, he stated that Tesco’s 10 per cent non-food was having a considerable affect on small businesses in that town. ASDA, now part of Wal-Mart and once owned by Associated Dairies, is due to open in Pwllheli in November, with the creation of 120 full and part-time jobs. In spite of opposition from traders and town council, the original application was granted by Gwynedd councillors, in February 2006.
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