June 1, 2011 2.09 pm This story is over 159 months old

Lincoln Netto-Asda conversion opens June 8

Opening soon: Lincoln will be the home of one of the first Netto stores to be transformed into an Asda on Wolsey Way.

A new Asda store is opening on Wolsey Way in Lincoln after a £500,000 refit.

Opening June 8, the new store is replacing Netto, a chain of 193 stores which Asda bought for £778 million in May 2010.

The Lincoln store in Nettleham Fields is one the first of 147 Netto stores to be converted into an Asda this year in the UK.

As well as new staff, previous Netto store employees will be transferred over to the new Asda after a week-long training programme.

Amid fears that nearby businesses would go under with the arrival of Asda, a petition against the store was signed by over 1,000 people to save surrounding stores.

The main concern of the petitioners was the wider range of services Asda offers compared with the previous Netto store.

The number of products will rise from an average 1,800 up to 10,000, enabling customers to complete a full weekly shop. The new supermarket will also boast PayPoint, lottery and cash machines.

Concerns were raised that shops like the Post Office, whose main revenue was from tobacco and the lottery, wouldn’t be able to cope.

Unlike rival retailers who operate smaller stores, all of the products sold in the new store will be available at the same prices found in the supermarket’s larger outlets.

Tracey Rasen, manager at Asda Lincoln, Nettleham Road, said: “Despite being a small Asda supermarket we think customers are going to be delighted with the new store. We hope they will be bowled over by the range.”