Exact date Birmingham Waitrose store will close as residents say area 'going downhill'

The supermarket has served residents in Hall Green, Shirley and surrounding areas for 52 years

A closing date has been confirmed for a popular Waitrose supermarket in Birmingham after owners said they had 'not been able to find a way to make the shop commercially sustainable'.

Birmingham city councillor Saima Suleman announced the Stratford Road store's closure on Thursday night, posting on Facebook that the branch had 'found trading challenging over the last few years'. The store has served residents in Hall Green and Shirley for 52 years.

Locals have called the decision 'really sad news' and 'another nail in the firmly closed coffin for Hall Green', with one resident going as far as to say she now wants to move out of the area.

Read more:Birmingham Waitrose store to close after 50 years as shoppers say 'another nail in the coffin'

A spokesperson for Waitrose confirmed that the supermarket will close down permanently at the end of trade on Tuesday, January 14 next year. "Regrettably, we've announced our intent to close Waitrose Hall Green in Birmingham at the end of trade on Tuesday, January 14, 2025," they said in a statement.

"Despite the best efforts of our partners, we've unfortunately not been able to find a way to make the shop commercially sustainable. The 123 partners who work in the shop will now enter a period of consultation. If the redundancy proposals go ahead, every effort will be made to find those who wish to remain within the partnership new roles."

Once the store shuts down, residents in Hall Green will need to travel three miles to find their nearest Waitrose branch in Solihull town centre. The soon-to-close supermarket is located a few units down from an Aldi and a new Farmfoods store is being built on the site of the old Horseshoe pub up the road.

Some neighbours have blamed the store's proximity to budget supermarkets for its demise, as one resident wrote on Facebook: "I guess a potential Farmfoods opening soon may not have helped the situation." And one regular shopper wrote: "I and my mom before me have shopped at Waitrose Hall Green since it opened in 1971.

"I'm absolutely gutted they plan on closing HG, though I did fear this might happen after Aldi opened and people and their shopping habits changed. Only hope I can get deliveries from Solihull. If it does close that'll be a large empty building for God knows how long to fall into disrepair and most likely be vandalised."

Responding to BirminghamLive's earlier story about the closure plans, Lisa Bird said: "Really sad news, it's away busy when I go in, I'm shocked, I don't think the big dirty supermarket being built next door helped. Hall Green is really going downhill lately."

And Dawn Adams said: "This is such sad news. Have shopped in the Hall Green branch for 35 years. The staff are lovely."