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Supermarket giant Morrisons is rumoured to be interested in taking the dormant Dorothy Perkins unit in Wokingham
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Supermarket giant Morrisons rumoured to be in talks over Dorothy Perkins unit

By Jon Nurse
March 20, 2013

Supermarket chain Morrisons is believed to be in talks to take over the former Dorothy Perkins and Burton unit in Wokingham town centre.

The retailer is understood to be negotiating a lease with the landlord for the large Market Place shop, a move that would fit its strategy of expanding its number of convenience stores and selling online.

But a supermarket wouldn’t be the first choice for Wokingham Chamber of Commerce president Mark Walton, who feels another big name would be good news for the town.

Speculation begins over Dorothy Perkins replacement

Mr Walton said: “With anyone that moves in, especially the big chains, they will have done their homework and will know that after set-up costs there is the market in Wokingham.

Dorothy Perkins store set to close

“The size of the unit is bigger than most of the others in the town centre so I would be surprised to see an independent retailer get in there.

“Whoever moves in would have to do a really good job because people could so easily go to Waitrose or Morrisons in Woosehill.”

He added: “I’d rather not see it as a supermarket but it’s more important that we have all our shops occupied and that it’s a quality retailer.”

Morrisons is investing heavily in expanding its portfolio of Morrisons M local stores and has bought 49 Blockbuster stores, six HMV stores and seven Jessops shops nationwide after the chains closed shops.

Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips said: “We are ready to accelerate the development of our multi-channel presence and our convenience operation is gaining real momentum, acquiring more than 60 new sites in recent weeks alone.

“We are therefore increasing our target for store openings in the coming year by 40 per cent and plan to have 100 stores trading by the end of the year.”

Dorothy Perkins and Burton closed in January, signalling the loss of 10 jobs in the town.

When The Wokingham Times asked its readers what retailer they’d like to see occupy the unit, a butchers, Primark or an Ann Summers were the most popular choices.

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Most recent user comments 7 of 7

Much better than another "Poundland" type store and we do actually need a lower price basic goods supermerket in the centre of town. Hopefully it will make the store on Elms Field unnecessary.

PoneRana, Wokingham
22/03/2013 at 14:04

Oh well.

Better than an estate agent, charity shop or another Italian themed restaurant, I guess...

HatsOfDoom
20/03/2013 at 21:54

Expected to see an M-Local replace Blockbuster - shame they can't attract Poundland or 99p store into the vacant Perkins store ;o)

Artful Dodger, Wokingham
20/03/2013 at 17:05

How will this impact on Town centre regeneration - will there be demand for two new supermarkets in Wokingham??

By the way, in case anyone has not already got the message

SIGNIFICANT RETAILERS NEVER HAVE WANTED TO COME TO WOKINGHAM

and probably never will - with of course a few exceptions.

Their brand attracts shoppers to Bracknell, Reading etc etc - they don't need to be in Wokingham.

init!
20/03/2013 at 13:09

I was very surprised as well - especially considering as Tonk says, Morrisons had taken on a number of Blockbuster stores for M-Locals.

alex_f, Wokingham
20/03/2013 at 12:36

PR:

Agreed! I thought that Morrisons had taken on many of the former Blockbuster shops to set up smaller, local supermarkets. I am therefore surprised to read that they're looking at leasing DP's old place.

Tonk, Wokingham
20/03/2013 at 11:47

What Wokingham needs is a significant retailer to move into the Blockbusters shop. If that end of Peach Street is not to die we Need some action to attract shoppers to that end of town.

Other actions are needed like a bus stop and a pedestrian link to the new surgery from Peach Street