Sainsbury's Nairn - one week countdown begins tomorrow!

(Please see UPDATE at end)

Yes, only about a week to go until the new Sainsbury's supermarket just on the eastern edge of Nairn is scheduled to open on Wednesday 3rd August 2011. The last time I passed nearby was a few days ago, on my way to do some shopping at rival store Tesco in Forres and it seemd then that the infrastructure for the new Sainsbury's outlet was just about complete - obviously I haven't been able to see inside the new store yet, but my comments relate to the car-parking area and to the dedicated petrol station near the entrance to the site. The new roundabout on the A96 seemed complete, with only minor work still to be done before the new road infrastructure would be complete.

As part of the planning for the new Sainsbury's, several (5 I believe) new sets of traffic lights have been installed at various parts of the A96 as it passes though Nairn and these were switched on a little over a week ago, since when the traffic seems to have been flowing through the town remarkably smoothly at most times of the day, with only a little congestion for what seem to be quite brief periods and certainly a lot fewer than there were before. From my apartment I get a good view of a part of the highway as it passes through the town so these comments are based on my personal observations.

Over the past couple of days I have crossed the threshhold of the main branch of the Co-op in Nairn on a couple of occasions (most recently earlier today). Unlike some in the town I am not 'boycotting' it per se and will probably still visit it occasionally from time to time for small purchases, just as I have in the past, but the vast bulk of my weekly shopping requirements will probably shift from the large Tesco store on the eastern edge of Inverness, with lesser but still significant shopping being done in the smaller, but somewhat closer Forres store, to the new Sainsbury's outlet in Nairn - that is the reality and I expect I will not be the only one who will relegate the second-rate Co-op to the bottom of my list for shopping preferences.

I notice that there is a page in Sainsbury's website dedicated to job recruitment for the new Nairn store - I have no idea of course how many if any of these jobs remain available, but one imagines that for the store to be opening next week, many job vacancies have already been filled.

Roll on Wednesday, 3rd August 2011
- for the new Sainsbury's store in Nairn!

UPDATE: (Thursday 4th August 2011 13.51 BST) Please see my article yesterday entitled Sainsbury's Nairn - first visit, written following my first visit to the new store on its opening day.