Waitrose is to open a 22,000 sq ft store in Droitwich, replacing its Kidderminster site.
The outlet, a “state-of-the-art food store”, will open in July when the Kidderminster shop in the Swan Centre will close.
Waitrose had looked for a new location in the town but was unable to find a suitable site. Despite the 12-mile distance, a spokeswoman said she was confident customers would travel to the new store.
The Droitwich store will offer double the floorspace of the existing outlet. It will have parking for more than 300 cars and feature wide aisles, modern checkouts, an extensive wine department and its scan-as-you-shop service Quick Check. There will be a focus on fresh and a meal centre selling Chinese, Italian and Indian dishes, as well as meat, fish, cheese and deli counters and rotisserie.
Waitrose this week published results for the second half of its financial year, showing sales for the 26 weeks to January 29 up 17.4% on the same period last year. It has opened 23 new stores over the last 12 months, converting 19 stores acquired from Morrisons and opening four new branches.

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