Waitrose opens first Worcester store
The Waitrose supermarket chain has opened its first store in Worcester.
The store was officially unveiled by Robin Walker MP, branch manager Scott Whittaker and nine-year-old Isobel from Nunnery Wood Primary School who won a competition to design a shopping bag for the branch.
The 38,000 square foot shop is within the top ten largest Waitrose stores in the UK and has created 130 jobs following more than 1,300 job applications.
The London Road store is the second Waitrose and the first outside London to include a draft beer pump, which is supplied by the Purity Brewing Company in Alcester. It is situated in the shop’s wine bar, a new concept seen in just seven Waitrose stores across the country, where customers can enjoy a beer or wine by the glass along with deli platters and tapas.
In addition, the branch is the sixth Waitrose store in the UK to offer a sushi bar manned by sushi chefs, who prepare fresh products in front of customers throughout the day. The retailer became the first UK supermarket to include a fresh sushi bar in November last year.
The store also features a café, an eat-in bakery and a community room which provides free space to local not-for-profit organisations and groups.
Whittaker said: “We are really proud to be opening in Worcester, to have generated new employment opportunities for local people and to be adding to the investment the city continues to attract. Waitrose Worcester will be among our largest in the UK and a real flagship for our brand.”
