Chester (Boughton) 842: Opening

Waitrose Chester opened 6th November 2014.
The following article appeared in the Partnership in-house magazine at the time.

On Thursday 6th November 2014, Chester customers were able to experience shopping in their newly built, full size Waitrose store. A ‘Little Waitrose’ had previously been available to them on Foregate Street but, following its closure and the relocation of all 23 Partners to the new store, they are now able to experience a juice bar, cafe, wine bar, concierge style Welcome Desk, click and collect, dry cleaning and a flower garden whilst shopping.

The 29,000 sq ft store is located next to the Shropshire Union canal and has steps leading from the Branch cafe down to the waters edge. The surrounding area is being regenerated into a sleek business quarter, and the Branch’s sleek bronze-clad exterior reflects its industrial heritage.

‘I am really proud and excited to be a part of this flagship Waitrose store that will anchor the city’s Renaissance regeneration scheme.’ said Branch Manager Dickie on opening day. ‘We’re delighted to expand into this new 29,000 sq ft store, which is more than five times the size of the Foregate Street shop and we’re very much looking forward to providing our customers with the very latest our brand has to offer.’
Lord Mayor of Chester, Bob Rudd performed the opening ceremony at 8am on Thursday 6th November, where he was joined by local MP, Stephen Mosley and nine year old Chloe, who won a competition to design a Bag for Life, illustrating her favourite things about Chester. Chloe was excited and a little overawed- to take centre stage in the ribbon cutting, but she certainly enjoyed posing for the cameras. ‘It’s really been good fun – it’s like being a celebrity!’ she said.

The branch attracted a 1000 job applications with 180 new Partners joining the business. Customer Service Partner, Letitia was extremely excited to be joining the Waitrose team. ‘I’ve never worked in retail before, but I’m thrilled to be part off this new venture.’ she said. ‘There’s been lots of local interest and it’s been fabulous watching the store transform over the last few weeks. I can’t wait to get serving our customers.’
Bakery assistants, Deborah and Debbie agreed. They’re both thoroughly enjoying the experience of launching a new shop. ’We’ve had fantastic training and support from other branches with Partners from as far afield as Walton-le-dale and Formby, helping us out,’ explained Debbie. ’There’s a fantastic food assortment here and we’re all just raring to go.’

The first customer through the door, Geoff, was presented with a bouquet and a bottle of champagne. A self-confessed John Lewis fan, he declared he couldn’t be more pleased to have a flagship Waitrose store in Chester. ’It’s just fantastic for the city and I can’t wait to check the new concept wine and tapas bar.’

14th November 2014
Chronicle: Vol 74
No 42

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