Stans Superstore bosses rule out taking over two shops
Bosses of a independent supermarket in Shropshire have ruled themselves out of taking over two former Harry Tuffins stores in the county.
Stans Superstore bosses revealed today they had been in talks with Midcounties Co-operative, which currently owns the former Tuffins stores in Bishop's Castle and Craven Arms. But they said they were not looking for any store acquisitions at the current time.
Midcounties Co-operative bought 10 Harry Tuffins stores in Shropshire, Wales and Gloucestershire earlier this year.
But they have been ordered to offload four sites – including the Bishop's Castle and Craven Arms stores – by the Office of Fair Trading over concerns about a breach of competition rules.
Stans Superstore bosses, who run a large supermarket in St Martins near Oswestry and opened a new store in nearby Llangollen in March, confirmed today talks had been held about a potential takeover of the former Tuffins stores.
But store partner Andrew Faulks said no deal had been agreed. He said: "We can confirm Midcounties Co-operative approached us about the stores.
"We have held talks with Midcounties Co-operative but we have recently opened a forecourt store in Llangollen. We are also in the process of a refit of our store in St Martins.
"Therefore we are not looking for any acquisitions at the moment."
Stans Superstore employs more than 170 people. Its St Martins store has 28,000 square feet of retail space and the site is 45,000 square feet in total and the Llangollen store is 3,000 square feet in size, and both stores have a fuel forecourt.
The Midcounties Co-operative bought out the Harry Tuffins chain in March for an undisclosed sum.
But the group was told to sell the Bishop's Castle and Craven Arms stores after an Office of Fair Trading investigation.
