Supermarkets 'attack' city's smaller traders

INDEPENDENT traders in Sheffield are under attack from supermarket giants, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

By The Newsroom

Published 2nd Jun 2010, 00:41 BST

Updated 2nd Jun 2010, 00:42 BST

The warning follows the revelation that Tesco and Sainsbury's plan new stores in the city.

Andrew Flower, South Yorkshire chairman of the FSB, said: "The pace at which supermarkets are mushrooming in Sheffield is alarming. Small retailers are being squeezed out in their hundreds and all the colour and diversity which a vibrant independent retail sector brings is being lost, only to be replaced by the bland sameness of the Big Four."

Tesco, which plans a new store in Halfway, also has planning permission for a superstore on The Wicker. The firm has filed its third bid for an "express" store in Commonside and is also waiting for a decision on an extension to its Millhouses branch.

Rival Asda has consent for a store in Parson Cross and is planning an extension to its store in Handsworth.

Sainsbury's is awaiting a decision to extend its branch in Millhouses and also plans a new store in Wadsley Bridge.