Asda has unveiled a £450m investment plan for 2001 creating 5,000 new jobs and increasing its retail space by 600,000sq ft. The cash will be spent on 13 new stores (including four rebuilds and re-sites), six extensions, renewal and refurbishment across the entire store portfolio, and a new distribution depot at Bedford. The £450m figure includes the £70m cash injection for Scotland announced in late November and two Asda Wal-Mart supercentres in Livingston (rebuild) and Swindon (purpose build). The 20 acre Bedford depot, operational by September this year, will supply chilled and frozen goods to stores in the Midlands and south east, creating 550 new jobs. After a successful entry into Asda late last year, Wal-Mart own label ranges Great Value and Smart Price are being rolled out across the Asda store portfolio following a "great reception". Extra Special, the UK equivalent of Wal-Mart's premium own label range Sam's Choice is also proving "extremely popular". {{NEWS }}

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