SHOPKEEPERS have admitted the future looks bleak after supermarket giant Tesco unveiled plans to open in Scissett.
The latest Tesco Express convenience store, planned for the former J S Auckland car spares site on Wakefield Road between Scissett and Clayton West, would be the company’s fifth in the Huddersfield area.
Three already operate in Moldgreen, Marsh and Dalton and the green light was given for one in Kirkburton earlier this month.
The vacant site, next to Scissett swimming baths, had already been earmarked for a Somerfield store and 14-unit apartment complex.
The three-storey mixed-use development was given the go-ahead last year but the plans stalled when Somerfield was bought out by the Co-operative.
Yusef Hans, whose family have managed the adjacent Dearne Valley Total Garage for more than 20 years, said he feared their takings would plummet.
He said: “Obviously it’s going to affect our business. They are going to be open at the same times as us.
“The profit we get from petrol isn’t that good, the majority is from the food and drinks.
“Tesco – they are too big, they are everywhere, how many do they need?” he added.
Mr Hans vowed to oppose the application and said he would join any action group that was launched.
Kim Hunt, an employee at Clayton Village Stores in Clayton West for more than 10 years, thought it could hurt trade but said she hoped villagers would stay loyal to them.
“The way money is at the moment, a lot of people are going to go for the cheapest option.
“It’s obviously not good for business and I don’t think it’s right really.
“The owners have been here 12 years and built it up over those years. They have put a lot into it.
“This is a really busy shop from 3.30pm on until we close at 9pm.
“It’s known as the Blackpool Shop round here because you can get anything here.”
In Scissett, Harry and Kully Sidhu, managers of the village post office, said if passing trade dried up it could spell the end for post office services.
Mr Sidhu said: “They are going to be far dearer (than a normal Tesco) so people aren’t going to save money, but it’s the name that’s going to drag them in, regardless of the price.
“We look after the community but for them it’s just about the cash.”
Mrs Sidhu added: “We won’t just lose the shop, the village will lose its Post Office because the profits from the shop prop up the Post Office.
“We don’t know how much time we have got left.
“We know it’s going to affect our business but we don’t know how.”
But the new owners of the Mustang Cafe, Stephen and Diane Simpson, thought a new store might boost their business as shoppers stopped in for a warm butty or coffee.
And elderly Scissett residents also welcomed the store.
What Scissett shopkeepers say
Kully Sidhu, proprietor of Scissett Post Office, Wakefield Road, Scissett, said “It’s the way things are going, independent businesses are a dying trade. We won’t just lose the shop, the village will lose it’s Post Office because the profits from the shop props up the Post Office.”
Anne Jacques, shop worker at Croft House Bakery, Wakefield Road, Scissett, said: “I don’t think it will affect us, we have a certain kind of customer that won’t be served by Tesco. I think we will be all right to be fair. We’ve got a store opposite the Co-op in Skelmanthorpe and we do all right. But I think it will hurt the Post Office the most.”
Stephen Simpson, proprietor of Mustang Takeaway and Cafe, Wakefield Road, Scissett, said: “It doesn’t really bother me, it might help us. People wandering down here to do some shopping might then get something to eat. Old people might stop in afterwards and get some breakfast or lunch. But if it was going to be bigger then I would be unhappy.”
Kim Hunt, shop worker at Clayton Village Stores, High Street, Clayton West: “It’s obviously not good for business, I don’t think it’s right really. People have built small businesses up over years and then Tesco come in with lower prices. And it’s what comes with it, gangs of kids hanging around and more traffic. You take your life in your hands when you cross that road.”
