Booths has confirmed the closing date for its Hale Barns store.
We exclusively revealed on February 19th that the Preston-headquartered retailer had decided to move out of the village after nine years.
The 30,000 sq ft store had opened in April 2015 as the anchor tenant of the Hale Barns Square development, but struggled to attract the expected footfall.
A spokesperson for Booths has now confirmed to Altrincham Today that the store will close on Sunday April 7th.
They added: "Closing any Booths store is always a difficult decision and is not a reflection of the dedication of our team at Hale Barns and the wider business.
"We would like to thank our loyal customers and colleagues and we look forward to welcoming customers at Knutsford Booths.
"We would like to reassure colleagues and customers that we have no further plans to exit any of our other stores."
Staff at the Hale Road store are currently involved in a consultation process with a view to transfering the property lease to budget supermarket chain Asda.
We understand that following Booths' closure, the store will be closed for a refit for several weeks and reopen as Asda on Monday April 29th.
Under a TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment rights) process, all jobs will be protected and transferred to the new retailer.
The Hale Barns site would represent Asda's second main store in Altrincham, having opened a purpose-built store in Broadheath in September 2015.
An Asda spokesperson said: "Asda is delighted to announce we have acquired the property lease for Booths' Hale Barns store. The colleagues currently employed by Booths at this store will move to Asda's employment under TUPE transfer in the coming months during a consultation process.
"We look forward to welcoming our new Asda colleagues and sharing more details on our plans to bring great Asda value to the local community in the near future."
