Build It And They Will Come? Another Tesco Prepares to Open in Bournemouth

Although the title header, "build it and they will come" is probably a tenet unlikely to hold much sway in the business world, it is one pertinent in relation to the forthcoming opening of a new Tesco Metro store in Bournemouth.

The line is a poignant paraphrase from the 1989 film Field of Dreams, a sports fantasy based on the tale of a man who builds a baseball field for ghosts. After a year has passed by, the spectres eventally begin to make use of the facility.

One suspects that it will not take as long for the residents of Bournemouth to visit the new Tesco store, located in the prominent unit off the Square that was previously occupied by the now defunct UK arm of the Borders bookstore chain.

When a Tesco store opens, people soon follow with £3.2bn pre-tax profits from the past financial year testament to the supermarket's ongoing success despite the effects of a recession.

Their newest addition to Bournemouth, a medium-sized Metro version, will open on Monday 17 January at 8am following reports that 791 people had applied for the 85 jobs available.

Naturally, president of Bournemouth Chanber of Trade and Commerce, Nigel Hedges, is happy that unit is now occupied with the fresh employment opportunities that the opening will bring to the town.

He told Bournemouth's Daily Echo, "It’s a big store to fill and it needed to be filled. It’s creating employment and getting the lights on in a prime unit."

Arm Chairs & Deck Chairs has been garnering online opinion from residents about the opening. Comments on the Echo website have highlighted how divided the local populous are on the issue.

Those in favour of the opening include 'Tamrin' who announced their recent successful application to join the supermarket giant.

The poster in question said, "I am one of the lucky people who got a job at Tesco ,only part time (17hrs) mind you but i can't wait until the overtime kicks in and i can say goodbye to the job centre and its arrogant staff." (sic)

This particular user is obviously delighted at finding employment following a period without a job and went further in praising the opportunity that the new role could bring by adding, "its all about getting your foot in the door and playing your cards right once your in!"

There are others who share 'Tamrin's' sentiments, welcoming the economic benefits to the town centre. Undoubtledly, the creation of 85 new jobs is a fillip besides the occupation of the redundant former Borders unit.

Meanwhile, various other posters have criticised the supposed lack of neccessity for another Tesco in the town, especially given the close proximity of one of the chain's Express stores, less than a mile away in the Triangle.

'Markmag' commented, "They won't close the Triangle - Tesco don't close stores. What it does mean is you'll have the choice to buy at the triangle at Express prices or at the Square at Metro prices."

With regards to Tesco's policy on opening new stores, no matter how close they are to others, this particular poster alluded to an issue where Tesco have publicly rebuffed criticism.

Addressing points made to the chain by the Competition Commission, in one instance by the Scottish Grocers' Federation, Tesco denied having a policy to deliberately build stores near to existing stores.

The response reads: "In some cases we do operate stores in close proximity, in densely populated areas where a single store would suffer from over-crowding and congestion that customers do not like. We only open stores where we can identify customer demand and we work with the grain of the planning regime to meet local needs."

'CrashTest1976' makes the point that "The store creates 85 much needed jobs for the people of Bournemouth. Quit your whining about prices and recognise that 85 Bournemouth families will now have an income they didn't have before!" however perhaps this poster, whilst recognising the social and financial benefits of employment, fails to recognise the worrying continuing trend of low-paid service based work in the town.

This is an issue not limited to Bournemouth. Even by the Council's admission in a recent study of the local labour market, Bournemouth's economy centres on a "significant number of service based jobs (particularly) in the leisure and tourism industry, which tend, to be lower paid," with 91.4% of jobs in the service sector.

Closely following the opening of another retail giant in the town centre, namely the feted introduction of a Primark store in November, Tesco's new Bourne Avenue site is another example of the service sector offering its wares in the age of austerity.

It would be foolish to write-off the new store given the success of the chain's aggressive expansion policy thus far. After all, rightly or wrongly, Tesco may be the only viable option in depressed economic conditons where independent stores had already previously struggled to compete.