St Luke’s Hospice Stocksbridge shop to expand with move to new site

The redevelopment of Manchester Road in Stocksbridge will see the creation of a new library and community hub building at the heart of the new town centre, along with a new town square and upgrades to the precinct area of Manchester Rd, including shop front improvements.

An important part of that scheme includes not only the demolition of the existing library building but also the neighbouring St Luke’s shop.

But now the charity has confirmed that it will be moving to bigger premises, the former Fulton’s shop just a few yards along Manchester Road.

And with work on improvements to the unit also planned as part of the town centre investment, the aim is ultimately to make the move as quickly as possible from the old site to the new, with no break in trading

“Although we have no confirmed dates of when works will commence yet, we will be working very closely with members of the Stocksbridge Town Deal Board to make sure the transition happens as smoothly as possible with no loss of income and trade for us,” said St Luke’s head of retail Marie Egerton.

“The new shop is larger than our current one, and forms part of the wider expansion plan we have for the St Luke’s retail chain.

“Stocksbridge has been an important part of our retail operation for many years and this is such an exciting announcement to be able to make, securing our roots for the future with a well-established team and allowing us to remain a strong community fixture.

“A bigger shop means an even greater range of pre-loved items for our customers to enjoy as we will be able to expand our offer.

“We also look forward to working with our loyal team of volunteers in our new home and will be looking for more people to join us and help make this new venture the success Stocksbridge deserves.”

For more on the Stocksbridge Town Deal visit www.welcometostocksbridge.co.uk