Chester will have two new superstores before Christmas – at both the cheaper and more expensive ends of the market.
Steel frameworks for both the Waitrose in Boughton and the Asda on the Greyhound Retail Park are being erected at break-neck speed with both companies aiming to open in November.
An artist’s impression and signs have gone up at the Asda site offering a glimpse of the look and range at the forthcoming supermarket which will include groceries, a chilled department, a bakery, home and leisure, George clothing, a baby department, health and beauty and an optician.
The scheme, which is expected to create 173 jobs, was controversial in some quarters because it involved the demolition of Chester’s only remaining cinema and the closure of the bowling alley unit which is being extended to create the new store, a home shopping unit and café.
The West Yorkshire-based firm already has a smaller store in Saltney but is believed to have had long-held ambitions to open a superstore in the city.
Meanwhile, site owners Land Securities have confirmed the car park serving the next door John Lewis is also being enlarged ready to absorb any extra trade.
In Boughton, work is well under way to construct the eagerly awaited Waitrose store.
Spokesman James Armstrong said: “We are making excellent progress with the steel frame now nearly all erected so the new store is really beginning to take shape.
“The cladding is being put up and concrete floor laid as we complete the framework.
“We expect the shell of the new branch to be complete by next month when we can begin work on fitting it out before welcoming our new customers in late autumn.”
However, concerns have been raised by the council’s highways department about the impact on traffic flows at what is already a “busy main arterial route” and on air pollution in an area already designated an Air Quality Management Zone.
But planning officer Nial Casselden, who recommended approval, concluded it was not considered the plan would cause “unacceptable harm to residential amenity”.
