Coulsdon: Opening

Waitrose Coulsdon 129 opened on 25th October 1971.
The following article appeared in the Partnership in-house magazine at the time.
Waitrose Coulsdon branch number 129 opened on Tuesday, October 25th. Coulsdon is in the commuter belt; trains from the station every morning carry thousands of city workers to their desks and bring them back again every night.
The branch is situated in the Brighton Road, which at that point constitutes Coulsdon’s High Street. We don’t very often open right in the centre of towns these days, largely because car parks are not always possible. In Coulsdon we have a car park for c. 80 cars, which itself has proved a bit of a mixed blessing. Because the stations are so near (three of them on various lines) we found that the city-bound travellers were driving into Coulsdon and leaving their cars in our car park all day –  another item for Branch Manager Michael to keep an eye on.

Gazette Vol 24. No 12
October 30th 1971