Sainsbury’s brings relief to market town shoppers

Sainsbury's Opening in Chipping Norton

This is something of a red letter day for Chipping Norton … after 2 months of work, Sainbury’s has just opened its new store.  Chippy  had only two small supermarkets, Somerfield and the Co-op, to serve its thriving local community.  In April, the  Somerfield store closed as a result of the take-over by the Co-op in 2008.   For residents of Chipping Norton, the Gateway to the Cotswolds, visiting the nearest super-store involves a round trip of 20 miles or more.

Amidst much speculation, the news finally broke: Somerfield was out and Sainsbury’s was coming to town.  While the 2 month-long refit was underway, the Co-op had the monopoly on the small town shoppers.  But at 9am today (9th June 09), the new Sainsbury’s opened its doors for the first time in Chipping Norton. 

Like any small town, Chipping Norton is a hot-bed of gossip.  Locals were fully expecting celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, to be putting in an appearance, and there was talk the new store was to be extended upstairs.  These rumours proved to be unfounded, of course.  But as a nice touch, the Sainsbury’s powers-that-be decided to have the store opened by a member of staff who has worked in the store (under different ownerships) for ‘more years than she cared to remember’. 

This sort of thing is important to a small community.  Let’s hope that in coming to Chipping Norton, Sainsbury’s takes its responsibilities to the town seriously.  With one of the area’s biggest fundraising events only a month away (www.chippylido-auction.co.uk) it would be great to see Sainsbury’s pledging some support to this. 

And finally … let’s hope the management realise their mistake in tucking their ‘Chippy News Honesty Box’ away in a corner.  The Chippy News is one of the cornerstones of the community.  The monthly publication, run and managed by volunteers, is probably one of the best-selling papers in the town.  It’s so popular, copies have even been offered for sale on eBay! 

So come on Sainsbury’s … we’ve welcomed you to our community … now it’s your turn.  Get those copies of the Chippy News where we can find them … the Co-op does!