According to this article Somerfield is up for sale. Apparently Waitrose are interested in some of the better stores. I guess that rules out the two Norwood Road branches.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle3207294.ece

Mmmm ... I think I heard something like this on the radio a few months ago (or possibly even longer). After all the facetious remarks I and others have made here about there never going to be a Waitrose in WN there now seems to be just the faintest glimmer of hope, if perhaps Waitrose thought we were close enough to West Dulwich to tempt people to drive their Chelsea tractors in this direction. But I still think it's unlikely as the store is so small.

Well I can only hope that whomever takes it over improves on their marketing techniques... shoving copy after copy of special offers brochures through my door (at least once per week) but at no point announcing where the store actually is located !!!

(I'm in Anerley/Penge btw, and I still don't know where somerfield is)

" ...Waitrose became the first supermarket rival to break cover and admit it would be interested in buying some of the chain's 955 stores."

Note the operative word "SOME" - I don't think Waitrose would be interested in that site! Too small, wrong location.

Removes tongue from cheek .....

I quite agree - the chances that we'll be deemed to be 'Dulwich borders' and so worthy of a Waitrose are too tiny to be worth calculating. WN just doesn't have the Waitrose demographic.

.... and there is Sommerfield in East Dulwich...

Waitrose have said that they are interested in Somerfield stores, and they have plans for smaller outlets, but if Crystal Palace (Upper Norwood) Morrison's wasn't good enough then I doubt West Norwood will be. I doubt Morrison's will be interested. Tesco and Sainsbury's are said to be unlikely to take many, because of competition issues (definitely the case in Streatham Hill), so that leaves... The Co-Op (who closed their West Norwood store)... and Lidl, Netto, Iceland, Aldi etc.

Lidl's great!

They sure are! They're rumoured to have considered but rejected the old Co-Op site, so if that means they're interested in West Norwood ....

Asda are rumoured to be interested in taking over Somerfield according to today's Times.

Now that would be good - but they might sell off the smaller stores (as did Morrisons).

I can see the competition issues for Sainsburys buying the Somerfield in Streatham Hill, but I would think it would be something they'd consider for the West Norwood location? Especially given the Ujima Housing Association issues going on with their potential Sainsburys Local site in Tulse Hill.

Even with the new Tesco Express that will (hopefully) come in February, I would imagine that demand is still very strong to get another small to medium sized location. The size would fit a Sainsburys Local well.

Asda and Lidl won't be able to fit in that sized space, unless they rebranded to a smaller and more 'convenience' orientated proposition. I'm guessing that Asda are only interested in purchasing larger Somerfields. And it sounds like Lidl rejected the Co-op site supposedly because it was too small, so I cannot see that they would be very interested in the much smaller Somerfield location.

Which brings me back to the idea of a Sainsburys Local or (dread) a Costcutter...

I'd never even heard that Sainsbury's were interested in the new development on Tulse Hill!

This article says that the Co-op may be close to buying Somerfield. They have just shut a branch in West Norwood and there are two Somerfields on Norwood Road. I wonder if they would turn one into a Co-op?

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle3694994.ece

Interesting. Somerfield as a company is doing really well, which is why they are sticking on price.
In Scotland they've just sold six supermarkets in the island extremities to Tesco, as Somerfield are refocusing on smaller convenience style stores.

A recent analysis of the customer base of the different supermarket chains I saw makes me wonder why Waitrose would be interested in Somerfield stores. The analysis showed that along with Lidl and Asda, Somerfield had the highest percentage of `working class` customers and Waitrose and M&S the lowest (these were the labels used by the newspaper report to indicate spending power).

I suppose an area's demographics can change.

http://www.somerfieldgroup.co.uk/index.asp...p;press_ID=1182

So, will the Co-Operative be returning to West Norwood? I would not have thought competition issues would be an, er, issue, here.

Its been noted by the press (and by my insider at the Co-op) that Co-op will be forced to sell some stores as a result of this purchase. Morrisons and Iceland are sniffing around a couple.

This takes their market share to around 7% which I found quite astonishing, and as such makes them the 5th largest supermarket chain.

I wrote to Waitrose (I do actually have a life!) to make them aware of the potential development opportunities in West Norwood. I figured if these developments are going to be dependent on money from a supermarket I personal would prefer it to be Waitrose over all the rest.

I got a really pleasant reply which didn't rule out the idea of there being a Waitrose built in West Norwood. It didn't promise one either but at least they are aware of opportunities they may not have known about. So you never know.............

well done sidney! fingers crossed, eh?

NickyB

about 30 years ago - the Co-op had a 30% market share! shows how things can change.

Much as I would like Waitrose to come to West Norwood - I really don't think that's a realistic aspiration.

There are lots of Co-ops outside of London - They are often the Village supermarket, I can understand why they still have a large market share

According to today's paper, the Co-Op are selling off 10 Somerfield stores in London, including Camberwell (where there is duplication), Tooting (didn't know there was a Somerfield there!) and Kentish Town.

Whether West Norwood will be "safe" who knows?
Aldi and Lidl are on the acquisition trail as well as Waitrose...