Sainsbury's targets Hove Tesco

Sainsbury’s looks likely to open a second shop in Western Road on a site that sits opposite a busy Tesco.
The supermarket company has started fitting out the store in two vacant units in Western Road, Hove.
The two units were occupied by Fast Signs and Design Interiors in the old Hill’s of Hove department store building.
Sainsbury’s recently doubled the size of its Sainsbury Local store further along the street at the Brighton end of Western Road.
Moves by Tesco and Sainsbury’s to open stores at other sites around Brighton and Hove have attracted opposition and the latest development already has one vocal critic.
Paul Elgood, Liberal Democrat councillor for Brunswick and Adelaide on Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “To have two multinationals opposite each other seems entirely unnecessary to me.
“One is enough (many would say too many), but Sainsbury’s locating there is more about them competing with Tesco than about serving the local community.”
Cllr Elgood said on his Brunswick Blog: “This raises a number of urgent questions – for example, how will they undertake their deliveries in a congested stretch of road already hit by Tesco’s numerous lorries?”
He had earlier said: “It also opens up the prospect of a price war between stores there, which will leave the smaller independent traders finding it difficult to compete.”
A Sainsbury’s Local is planned for the old Caffyn’s car showroom site in Preston Road, Brighton. Residents of Preston Village have started a Facebook campaign to rally opposition called No Sainsbury’s in Preston Village. It currently has 69 members and more than 300 people have signed its petition opposing the supermarket company.
Another Sainsbury’s Local is planned for Portland Road, Hove, in a unit formerly occupied by bathrooms retailer Reflections.
A petition was circulated when rumours spread that the site would be leased to a supermarket operator but before the identity of the supermarket was known.
Tesco attracted opposition to its Tesco Express shop in St James’s Street, Brighton, and its proposed store in Lewes Road, Brighton.
According to a recent report in The Times, Tesco intends to open dozens of stores across the country to beat a clampdown.
The report suggested that ministers may bring in rules to make it harder for the main supermarket operators to open a store in areas where they are already dominant.
Sainsbury’s and Asda have also submitted dozens of applications but not on the same scale as Tesco, the market leader.