Sainsbury’s announces opening date for new store at former East of England Co-op site in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe

A supermarket retailer has announced the opening date for its latest store in Felixstowe.

In September, the East of England Co-op confirmed it would relinquish the lease for its Hamilton Road shop to Sainsbury’s.

Since then, works to convert the site have begun and the 19,000sq ft store will be ready to welcome customers from May 1.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s chief property and procurement officer and managing director of smart charge, said: “All of us at Sainsbury’s are passionate about our tasty, well-sourced food and we want to bring more of it within easy reach of more customers wherever we can.

“We’re delighted to bring a Sainsbury’s supermarket to Felixstowe for the first time and we’re excited to be entering the home stretch in its conversion and fitout before launching the store at the beginning of May.”

As well as transferring existing staff from the previous Co-op store to the new supermarket, Sainsbury’s has also recruited 42 new staff members, doubling the size of the store team.

The store will also include a new Argos inside the supermarket.

Nick Cordingley, Sainsbury’s Felixstowe superstore manager, said he was thrilled to be given the chance to lead the ‘fantastic team’ at the first-ever Sainsbury’s store in Felixstowe.

He added: “We’re currently working hard to get everything ready for opening day.

“We’re really looking forward to welcoming customers to the new store in just a couple of weeks and to playing an integral part in the local community for years to come.”

The East of England Co-op previously confirmed that its petrol station at the Felixstowe site will be unaffected by the transfer, along with its tenants. The freehold will remain under its ownership.

The Co-op Travel branch in the store will relocate to a nearby location in due course.

Its accompanying Funeral Services outlet, also on Hamilton Road, will remain unaffected by the announcement.