Lincolnshire Co-op has opened a new store Sincil Street Food Store, in Lincoln’s Cornhill Quarter.
Services include a range of chilled and fresh meal options, takeaway drinks, snacks and hot food, plus self-scan tills. There’s also a free water bottle refill station.
The retail society has led the multi-million pound redevelopment of the Cornhill Quarter, which has seen many historic buildings sympathetically restored and adapted for modern commercial use.
This has been reflected in the new store, with elements like the original 1919 shopfront and curved glazing restored. Design touches also reflect the building’s heritage, such as vintage-style lighting, tiled flooring and a hanging clock on the corner on Norman Street and Sincil Street.
Researchers found that part of the building was once part Lincolnshire Co-op, with the society’s Colonial Meat Store selling goods from around the world from 1908 until 1916.
Chief executive Ursula Lidbetter said: “After years of working on the Cornhill Quarter redevelopment, it’s a special moment to be opening our new food store in the heart of the area.
“This is a modern store with high-quality facilities perfect for customers in a bustling city centre environment, whether they’re popping out for lunch, grabbing a meal before catching the bus home or refuelling during a shopping trip.
“Throughout the Cornhill Quarter development, we wanted past and present to complement each other so we’ve thought carefully about that during the store’s design. I’m delighted with the results.”
Lindum Group is the contractor carrying out the work in Sincil Street and site manager Neil White said the food store shop front was the most complicated of all the shop fronts undertaken during the redevelopment.
“This work involved matching up the new frontage to the existing building, which included removing old brickwork at ground level and rebuilding it to match the existing curve. It also involved retaining a 1940s glass panel overhead,” he said.
“The new woodwork and the curved glazing had to match the size and shape perfectly. There was no room for error and it was a huge relief when it was all finally in place.
“The structure was built at Joinery’s workshop in North Hykeham, which is also where the other shop fronts along Sincil Street were crafted. Like the others, this frame is made from sapele hardwood and is based on the drawings from John Roberts Architects.”
Lincolnshire Co-op runs a pharmacy and post office in the nearby City Square Centre; it is applying for permission from NHS England to move the pharmacy to a refurbished unit at 15 Sincil Street. If approved, this move would take place in early 2020.
The society also wants to relocate the post office – which now features members’ helpdesk services – to alternative city centre premises. Any move won’t take place before 2020.
Eventually, the plan is to replace the City Square Centre but this is in the early stages of planning and currently all services, and the tenants within the centre and along Waterside South, continue to trade as normal.
