Metropol

Been meaning to mention this, Lloyds Pharmacy have taken over the in-house pharmacies locally.

They acquired the pharmacy business in July.

http://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/new ... 2%A3125m-0

Sainsbury's wasting no time, planning to convert Homebase in Southport Meols Cop to a supermarket

http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/ ... y-11855432

Homebase, or Bunnings, not wasting any time either. Looks like all of the Argos concessions within Homebase are set to close shortly. Funnily enough, the Argos within my local Homebase actually adjoins a branch of Sainsbury's.

Philip wrote:Sainsbury's wasting no time, planning to convert Homebase in Southport Meols Cop to a supermarket

http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/ ... y-11855432

That's probably unrelated to the takeover. A few stores are still leased or subleased from JS dating back to when JS owned them - looks like this is one of them.

Interesting to see they're back to looking at building new stores, they've been very thin on the ground since they shelved all plans a few years ago.

WillPS wrote:

Philip wrote:Sainsbury's wasting no time, planning to convert Homebase in Southport Meols Cop to a supermarket

http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/ ... y-11855432

That's probably unrelated to the takeover. A few stores are still leased or subleased from JS dating back to when JS owned them - looks like this is one of them.

Interesting to see they're back to looking at building new stores, they've been very thin on the ground since they shelved all plans a few years ago.

The very Homebase in which I was a DIY and Interior Decorating Advisor 15 years ago or so! The Homebase conversion to Sainsbury's has been mooted for years - I think it's at least a couple of years since they first applied for planning permission - so definitely unrelated to the takeover.

I admittedly forgot about the Bunnings sale, so thanks for clearing that up!

Fun fact: one of the units I think they're taking over is a former MFI which has been empty ever since MFI went bust. Been a while since I went up there but I think they still have the signage and notices in the windows about the closure

The homebase at Straiton in Edinburgh (next to a Sainsburys) has been converted into a mega Next / Next Home / Costa / Beaverbrookes thingy.

Interestingly they dismantled homebase back to the metal frame and then built the new store using it.

Pete wrote:The homebase at Straiton in Edinburgh (next to a Sainsburys) has been converted into a mega Next / Next Home / Costa / Beaverbrookes thingy.

Interestingly they dismantled homebase back to the metal frame and then built the new store using it.

The old Tesco Chesterfield was converted into one of these massive used car showrooms recently - they actually demolished part of the store, stripped the rest to the bare frame then used that.

Before:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.25011 ... 312!8i6656

Partially demolished:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.25011 ... 312!8i6656

After:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.25011 ... 312!8i6656

You would never know it was (some of) the same stuff underneath.

Pear wrote:Homebase, or Bunnings, not wasting any time either. Looks like all of the Argos concessions within Homebase are set to close shortly. Funnily enough, the Argos within my local Homebase actually adjoins a branch of Sainsbury's.

Oh, now that's a real shame. I've made extensive use of my Argos-in-Homebase since it opened and found it a brilliant shopping experience: online Fast Track ordering, free parking outside and open until 8pm. Amazing logistics too, squeezing in nearly every product on the Argos website into such a tiny footprint.

They were also trialling a new scheme at my branch, in partnership with eBay and iPost Parcels (UK Mail), called eBay Drop Off at Argos which was a cheaper and more convenient alternative to sending parcels at the Post Office (despite the name, you could actually use it to send anything, not just items sold through eBay). I hope that scheme isn't in jeopardy now.

I expect we'll also see a lot of own brand range harmonisation taking place between Sainsbury's and Argos, probably with Sainsbury's toy range being replaced by the Argos-owned Chad Valley brand, and similar things happening on homeware and electricals (e.g. proliferation of the Argos-owned Bush brand).

rdobbie wrote:

Pear wrote:Homebase, or Bunnings, not wasting any time either. Looks like all of the Argos concessions within Homebase are set to close shortly. Funnily enough, the Argos within my local Homebase actually adjoins a branch of Sainsbury's.

Oh, now that's a real shame. I've made extensive use of my Argos-in-Homebase since it opened and found it a brilliant shopping experience: online Fast Track ordering, free parking outside and open until 8pm. Amazing logistics too, squeezing in nearly every product on the Argos website into such a tiny footprint.

They were also trialling a new scheme at my branch, in partnership with eBay and iPost Parcels (UK Mail), called eBay Drop Off at Argos which was a cheaper and more convenient alternative to sending parcels at the Post Office (despite the name, you could actually use it to send anything, not just items sold through eBay). I hope that scheme isn't in jeopardy now.

InPost parcel lockers are now serviced by UKMail, offering 2 day and 1 day delivery at very reasonable rates.