Petition launched as Aldi confirms Sunderland store closure

An online petition has been set up in an effort to save the Aldi store at the Hylton Riverside Retail Park in Sunderland from closure.
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The supermarket is set to close during the first half of next year, the German supermarket giant confirmed.

Kimberly Kennedy, 39, from Hylton Castle has set up an online petition in an effort to save the Hylton Riverside Retail Park store.

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Kimberly, who manages the Costa Coffee store on the retail park says she worries about the impact the closure could have.

The Aldi at the Hylton Riverside Retail Park is set to be closed downThe Aldi at the Hylton Riverside Retail Park is set to be closed down
The Aldi at the Hylton Riverside Retail Park is set to be closed down
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She said: “Local people head to the retail park just for Aldi and while they are there, they head into other stores.

“If the supermarket closures, then I fear the impact that it will have on the amount of footfall that the rest of the shops will receive.

“I’ve spoken to the managers of other businesses and they are all nervous about this as well.”

The Aldi store at Hylton Riverside Retail Park is set to close in October.The Aldi store at Hylton Riverside Retail Park is set to close in October.
The Aldi store at Hylton Riverside Retail Park is set to close in October.
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She added: “Being from the surrounding community, I know how important that shop is to a lot of people.

“Looking from the outside in, it always appears to be busy and I know so many elderly people who only use that supermarket.

“A lot of them have said they wouldn’t use any of the other Aldi shops due to the size of them, they prefer the smaller store.”

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A spokesperson for supermarket said: “Unfortunately, the size of our Hylton store no longer meets our requirements and the store will close during the first half of next year.

“Customers can visit our Carley Hill Road store or our new Pennywell store, both of which are less than 10 minutes away.

“All colleagues will be given the opportunity to relocate to one of our five stores in Sunderland.”

You can view the petition by clicking here.

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