Super(market) news for Littlehampton

The supermarket chain has lost an appeal against a Competition Commission ruling over the future of 12 of its stores, including the former Littlehampton outlet.

Somerfield's decision to go to appeal has already delayed the sale of the High Street premises to another supermarket group by several months, and town centre traders say business has been badly affected by the store's closure, with some shops seeing takings slump by up to 30 per cent.

Now traders will be hoping that Somerfield accepts the decision of the Competition Appeals Tribunal, and does not launch a further appeal, this time through the courts, further delaying the reopening of the High Street supermarket.

John Stevens, chairman of Littlehampton Traders' Partnership, welcomed the tribunal's verdict.

He said: "Whether or not Somerfield has deliberately used the appeal as a delaying tactic, the result in Littlehampton has been that our second largest town centre store, right on the High Street, has now been closed for 12 months.

"That closure has done exactly what the Competition Commission warned would happen, and exactly what we predicted. Some people have chosen to go elsewhere to do their shopping, with the knock-on effect that other businesses have lost trade, too."

Monitoring by the partnership showed that town centre retailers suffered an overall drop in trade last year of 4.3 per cent, but businesses in the western end of High Street and in Surrey Street have been hit much harder, some seeing their takings cut by more than a quarter.

"That's not all down to Somerfield. There have been other factors, including a general downturn in retailing and uncertainty in the economy, but it has been a major cause, in our view," added Mr Stevens.

The depressing appearance of a large, empty shop in the centre of the shopping area had also contributed to making Littlehampton seem a less attractive place for shoppers, he felt.

The situation had not been helped by Somerfield not living up to pledges that it would make improvements to the Safeway supermarket it took over in Avon Road, Littlehampton, at the same time it was closing down the High Street premises.

Mr Stevens said the Avon Road Somerfield had been unable to cope with the extra demand since it had been the only town centre supermarket, which, in turn, had driven more customers to shop elsewhere.

Following this week's decision by the tribunal, Somerfield has 28 days to consider whether it should make a further appeal through the courts.

Full details of the tribunal ruling have not yet been made public, allowing Somerfield and the Competition Commission to study the complex findings. But Somerfield has promised to issue a statement to the Gazette tomorrow (Friday).

The appeal was the latest round in a series of events affecting shopping centres, supermarket staff and customers the length and breadth of the UK.

It began with the takeover by supermarket chain Morrisons of its rival, Safeway, towards the end of 2004. Morrisons then sold 115 Safeway branches, including the Avon Road store, to Somerfield.

But an investigation by the Competition Commission found that in 12 town centres, including Littlehampton, the sell-offs were likely to lead to a significant decrease in competition, because of the presence of another Somerfield nearby.

Announcing its verdict in September, the commission ordered Somerfield to dispose of these 12 stores, but in Littlehampton, the situation was made more complicated by the company having already closed down the High Street branch, leaving the town centre with just one supermarket, the newly taken-over former Safeway in Avon Road.

However, the commission said Somerfield should sell the High Street premises to a rival supermarket, bringing back genuine competition to Littlehampton.

That, in turn, stopped the store being sold off to clothing retailer Mackays, which had already submitted a planning application for change of use.

But within weeks of the commission's ruling, Somerfield launched its appeal to the tribunal, dashing Littlehampton traders' hopes of a second supermarket returning to the town sooner, rather than later.

If Somerfield chooses not to appeal, it must offer the High Street premises to a "top-tier" rival such as Sainsbury's, the Co-op, Asda, Waitrose or Tesco, although the latter could be ruled out because of the closeness of its out-of-town supermarket at Broad Piece.

Should none of these chains be interested, stores with a more limited range, such as Lidl or Aldi, would be second in line.