Letter: How Will Waitrose Improve Guildford?

Published on: 11 Sep, 2015
Updated on: 11 Sep, 2015

From George Dokimakis

See: Waitrose Confirms Opening Date For New Guildford Store

No doubt the good people of the ruling party at Guildford Borough Council are happy that soon they will be able to do their shopping in Waitrose and not Sainsbury’s (heaven forbid they do so in the soon to be opened Aldi).

It is great to see that more houses are being built as part of the development and no doubt the already massively inflated Guildford house prices will now increase further, thanks to the Waitrose effect.

Yet all of these benefits pale in comparison to the experience that most of Guildford residents will receive as anyone driving into the town centre on Saturday will attest.

Queues are massive at the best of times around the town centre on the weekend and adding another attraction that will increase the number of cars on the road will only stifle it further.

Which leaves me wondering yet again. Was this decision driven by an overall design and strategy for the future of Guildford? Was it a piecemeal decision taken by some that thought having a Waitrose in Guildford would improve its image (and their shopping experience)? Was this the best decision for the use of space considering in the near, walking vicinity we already have a Sainsbury’s and a Morrisons Local?

Will we ever see a decent plan for the future of Guildford that actually improves Guildford for all of its residents and not a ruling minority?

Responses to Letter: How Will Waitrose Improve Guildford?

Bernard Parke Reply

September 11, 2015 at 8:23 pm

It is not just at weekends that we see such congestion. We are subjected to this curse on most days.

We once had a policy once to place such stores on the outskirts of town so provision shoppers did not need to enter the town centre. Park and ride is unable to solve the problem because heavy provisions are difficult to carry on buses.

This lesson seems to have been forgotten. Will we never learn from past mistakes?
Terry Stevenson Reply

September 14, 2015 at 1:09 pm

But hang on, it is often said that allowing out-of-town shopping centres, often in the green belt, has led to the decline of high streets.

Then again, perhaps town centre high streets can thrive on quirky stores selling niche products (or charity, coffee, mobile phone and pound shops).

I also note that in the last week or so Morrisons have decided to dispense with the majority of its ‘Local’ outlets. If the Guildford branch were to close, this would leave the town centre with just one grocery store, Sainsbury’s. Hardly a wide choice, if Waitrose were not to open.
Bernard Parke Reply

September 14, 2015 at 2:56 pm

Interesting points.

Local Sainsbury and Tesco super stores are not in the green belt, neither are there any plans to build such stores in the green belt areas.

Weekly provision shoppers, many of whom will have bought frozen foods, are not likely to venture further into high street shops of any kind.

In fact, perhaps due to the increased traffic congestion in the York Road area, together with the endemic heavy through traffic, high street shoppers will perhaps be inclined to seek more “shopper friendly” towns.
Penny Tomkins Reply

September 15, 2015 at 3:20 pm

Can any one remember when Waitrose was next to the cinema I’m not sure of the road may have been Woodbridge Road or Commercial Road.
Bernard Parke Reply

September 15, 2015 at 5:31 pm

It was in Woodbridge Road in the sixties. It was not really a superstore as we shall see now and it certainly did not have a car park for shoppers.
David Smith Reply

September 17, 2015 at 12:51 pm

I am glad there is a supermarket of this size in the town centre. Marks and Spencer food hall closes at 6pm most nights which just leaves Sainsbury’s or these little metro stores which offer a limited selection and are priced higher. When you commute into London there isn’t really any choice unless you want a jar of pesto or a ready meal for dinner.

This store will serve a great deal of people who live in the town and the residential area to the north – I know I will pick up groceries, by foot, on my way home. People seem to underestimate this.

Placing large shops on the edge of the town destroys high streets especially when they start selling clothes, homeware and technology. I remember seeing this in Perth in Scotland where my grandparents lived: a dead high street, about four Tesco Extras, a Morrisons and Asda, all on the city outskirts – no thank you.

This store will only add to the successful town centre which has stayed vibrant throughout.

Really looking forward to seeing it open.

These are the advertised opening times of Marks & Spencer in Guildford High Street:
Monday to Wednesday 08:30-18:00; Thursday 08:30-20:00; Friday & Saturday 08:00-18:30; Sunday 10:30-17:00. Ed
Bernard Parke Reply

September 17, 2015 at 5:49 pm

This will be a superstore not a supermarket store

A supermarket is on the lines of Sainsburys and Morrisons in central Guildford.

With 200 or so parking places the new facility is designed to cater for the car-borne shopper.

We once had quite a medley of supermarkets in the town with Waitrose, Safeways, Tescos Army and Navy, in addition to Sainsbury’s and M & S.

I wonder why most of them closed down?