‘What are we gonna do?’ cry shoppers as supermarket with 1,000 branches gears up to close branch – but it’s not all bad
A MAJOR supermarket with 1,000 branches is making plans to close a store leaving shoppers lost.
Aldi on Halbeath Road, Dunfermline plans to shut its doors on Sunday, February 18 to allow renovations to take place.
Shoppers will not be able to go back into the store for three months until May when renovations are expected to be finished.
Instead they will need to head to Nightingale Place in Dulock Park to do their weekly shopping.
An Aldi spokesperson told The Sun: “In order to provide an improved shopping experience for Dunfermline customers, the Aldi store on Halbeath Road will close on Sunday 18th of February to undergo an exciting refurbishment.”
“We will be re-opening our new-look Aldi store in May.”
Locals shocked to learn that the store was closing with many heading on Facebook to share their frustration.
One shopper asked: “Aww no gonna miss this till it reopens.”
Another said: “F***sakes I’ll need to go all the way to Duloch.”
“What are we gonna do now?” asked a third user.
However, some shoppers remained hopeful that the renovations would bring some much-needed in-store updates.
“An in-store bakery would be nice,” said someone else.
The discount supermarket has made plans to temporarily close quite a few stores but shoppers have not been happy about the moves.
Aldi’s store in Thetford shut its doors on October 14 before reopening a few weeks later.
Shoppers were so upset they threatened to boycott its reopening.
And of course, several of Aldi’s planned closures will be permanent.
Aldi also closed down a store in Sheerness town centre in November.
However, Aldi has confirmed its shoppers won’t be without a store for long.
The retailer announced plans to open its new £9 million store in Neats Court, Queenborough in April.
The new multi-million-pound complex is opposite the Queenborough retail park and will be a third larger than the existing premises with 134 parking spaces – 59 more than in Sheerness.
Last year in September after opening its 1000th store Aldi announced plans for its next phase of expansion which will include another 500 new stores.
The retailer said: “It is a long-term target and is not a ceiling to our ambition to have an Aldi store close to everyone in the UK.”
Several other retailers have not been so lucky with many struggling to get by over the past few years.
Energy costs have risen and more shoppers than ever are choosing to order online rather than head into stores.
This has left some retailers grappling with budgets and having no choice but to close stores to cut costs.
Homebase closed a store last year leaving it with just 93 stores remaining since it was taken over by Hilco Capital in 2018.
Poundstretcher closed multiple stores last year but also opened new stores in closed Wilko stores.
Even charity shops are struggling Oxfam confirmed it would close eight of its UK stores last year.
Clintons, Boots, HMV and Halfords are among the chains shutting stores before January 28.
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