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To: The John Lewis Partnership

Save Waitrose Staines

Waitrose is proposing to close the Staines store in Autumn 2017 if its Partners (the owners of its business) agree to this course of action during a consultation period.

We call upon Waitrose to extend its efforts to keep this store open through negotiation with Two Rivers, the shopping centre in which Waitrose Staines is based, and Spelthorne Council with a view to maintaining a town centre supermarket.

Why is this important?

The reason given for this proposed closure is that Waitrose has “found trading from this site extremely challenging for some time and has sadly been unable to find a long-term solution to address this.”

Waitrose is the only dedicated supermarket in the centre of Staines though and the impact of its loss will be felt strongly by local families and businesses.

Two Rivers Shopping Centre, and the wider town centre in Staines, has benefitted greatly in recent years from improvements in shops and restaurants. These are increasingly making Staines a destination for shoppers and for those visiting the town for the cinema, restaurants, coffee shops and other leisure facilities. Losing Waitrose will drive town centre visitors away to surrounding areas, affecting the prosperity of Staines and significantly diminishing the value of the shopping centre to the local community.

Likewise, the improved economic situation locally and nationally is being reflected in a large number of housing developments taking place within the area. Many of these developments are taking place in close proximity to the town centre – for those developments to thrive as part of the community, a town centre supermarket is essential.

Whether you’re a regular shopper at Waitrose, or simply pick up a few items when you’re passing, the store is a huge benefit to Staines town centre. Please sign so that we can do everything possible to keep the store open, save the jobs of the staff employed there and maintain a quality supermarket presence in Staines town centre.
Spelthorne District

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Category

Updates

2017-03-30 18:14:09 +0100

I am sorry to report that Waitrose Staines will close later this year. The decision has been taken that Waitrose is unable to find a solution that will allow them to continue trading from this site. Customer notices have now been put up in the store and details of dates for the closure will follow.

I have also heard back from Aberdeen Asset Management, the investment manager for Two Rivers, and they have stated that although they are sorry to see Waitrose leave Staines, they are currently in discussions with alternative occupiers for the space to ensure that the centre "maintains its vibrancy and appeal to customers" - we wait to see what comes out of those discussions.

I want to thank you all for your support of this petition and for the personal messages sent to me with feelings and concerns over this closure. I'm sure we all hope that something good will come from this closure and that any negative effect on the town centre will be short-lived.

2017-03-03 17:05:40 +0000

Thanks to everyone that has continued to sign and share the petition - we're closing in on 2,500 signatures which is more than I could ever have hoped for. I'm getting greedy now though - I will be handing out flyers outside Waitrose tomorrow to reignite our supporter numbers so if you're passing please say hello!

I have not had a response from either Waitrose Staines or Two Rivers to the letters I sent - it's been ten days. I have today escalated our concerns to Waitrose Head Office and Aberdeen Asset Management (the owner of Two Rivers Shopping Centre) - I will send an update if I get a response.

Thanks once again to you all for your continued support - have a great weekend.

2017-02-23 18:27:38 +0000

The town of Huntingdon is going through exactly the same situation as we are in Staines - and they have a petition going too.

Please consider standing with Huntingdon and signing at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-huntingdon-waitrose.

Thank you!

2017-02-21 13:31:05 +0000

1,000 signatures reached

2017-02-21 11:01:17 +0000

Thank you to everyone who has signed this petition since it launched yesterday - nearly 1,000 signatures in under 24 hours! It has also been picked up by Get Surrey at http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/staines-waitrose-closure-petition-save-12632452.

I will be writing to both Waitrose Staines and Two Rivers Shopping Centre today and will send another update when there is anything further to report.

Thanks again to you all and please continue to share!

2017-02-20 22:16:13 +0000

500 signatures reached

2017-02-20 19:07:56 +0000

100 signatures reached

2017-02-20 18:00:15 +0000

50 signatures reached

2017-02-20 17:27:07 +0000

25 signatures reached

2017-02-20 16:57:18 +0000

10 signatures reached