Waitrose, the food shops of the John Lewis Partnership, has announced it is to open its first ever store in Glasgow.

The retailer has reached an agreement to take over the lease of the 16,420 sq ft Somerfield in Byres Road in the city's West End and will open there by November this year.

More than 100 employees are set to join the John Lewis Partnership. The 70 Somerfield employees at the store will be offered the opportunity to join the business and an additional 50 new jobs will also be created.

The store will continue to trade as a Somerfield until August 17th and will be handed over to Waitrose by October. Waitrose will then carry out phased programme to convert the store which will open by the beginning of November on a date to be confirmed.

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Waitrose currently has just two stores in Scotland after acquiring its Edinburgh shops in Morningside and Comely Bank from Somerfield in June 2006. Its sister company, John Lewis, operates department stores in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose, said: "We are delighted to be coming to Glasgow. We have wanted to bring Waitrose here for a long time and in Byres Road we are confident we have found a location that will allow us to trade successfully.

"Our objective is always to make a long lasting positive contribution to any area in which we trade and we look forward to serving our new Glasgow customers"

Glasgow City Council's Executive Member for Business and the Economy, Councillor George Ryan, said: "Waitrose's arrival in Glasgow will be a very welcome entry into Glasgow's already successful retail market."

(GK/JM)