Burnage supermarket Survey 1 Year Report

In 2005, as part of the campaign against the planning application for a large Tesco supermarket store in Burnage, Manchester Friends of the Earth visited Burnage on four  occasions between September 2005 and the day before the opening of a 24 hour Tesco store roughly one mile from another 24 hour Tesco store.

The visited areas included Lane End Road, Fog Lane and part of Burnage Lane leading up to the site of the Tesco superstore on Lane End Road.  The purpose of the visits were to identify the businesses present, canvass their opinion of the store and its impact on their businesses and to track changes in these factors over time.

Main findings:
1) The Tesco store in Burnage has reduced retail viability and vitality in Burnage

2) This impact is felt by more than just the Grocery Sector

3) Three stores are already closed as a result of the store’s opening with others predicting they will follow.

4) Shopkeepers identified goods being sold at less than wholesale prices and provision of free parking as the main factors driving the distortion of the local market.

5) Residents complain that despite a large car park at the store many customers park outside their houses and use the pedestrian entrance to the store.

While the new Tesco store appears to offer convenience and is able to undercut traders already present and provide cheaper goods this seems to be leading to loss of retail vitality and viability in the area as businesses are forced to close or alter the type of trading they carry out thereby reducing choice for the consumer and altering the street scene and community in Burnage.

A pdf copy of the Manchester Friends of the Earth report is available via the Scribd website.