Waitrose has announced it is to open its first ever store in Glasgow at the end of the year, with more than 100 jobs up for grabs.
The retailer has reached an agreement to take over the lease of the 16,420sqft Somerfield in Byres Road in the city’s West End and will open there by November this year.
More than 100 employees are set to join the John Lewis Partnership, with the 70 Somerfield employees at the store offered the opportunity to join the business and an additional 50 new jobs set to be created.
The store will continue to trade as a Somerfield until August 17 and will be handed over to Waitrose by October. Waitrose will then carry out a phased programme to convert the store, which will open by the beginning of November on a date to be confirmed.
Waitrose currently has just two stores in Scotland after acquiring its Edinburgh shops in Morningside and Comely Bank from Somerfield in June 2006. Its sister company, John Lewis, operates department stores in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose, said: “We are delighted to be coming to Glasgow. We have wanted to bring Waitrose here for a long time and in Byres Road we are confident we have found a location that will allow us to trade successfully. Our objective is always to make a long-lasting, positive contribution to any area in which we trade and we look forward to serving our new Glasgow customers.
“We will continue to work with Scotland Food and Drink to ensure we give producers, especially those from Glasgow and the west of Scotland, the opportunity to have their food and drink on our shelves.
“Glasgow represents another important chapter in our history and is a further demonstration of our ambitions to bring Waitrose to Scottish consumers.”
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