Burnham-On-Sea’s last independent greengrocer is shutting down this week after more than 20 years business – and its owner is blaming supermarkets for its demise.
Sanders in Burnham High Street has been providing fresh fruit and vegetables to shoppers in the town for two decades, but its owner Phil Payne says it cannot survive any longer.
“The supermarkets in Burnham and Highbridge – Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Lidl and the Co-op – have completely killed our trade,” he told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“They’ve been under-cutting us for many years and we can no longer compete. We’ve struggled for the past two years but I now need to draw a line underneath it all.”
Phil continued: “It’s a sad week for us – there’s been a fruit and veg shop here for so long, and I have received lots of very kind comments from customers this week.”
Mr Payne is returning the shop’s lease to the property owner and the premises will be vacant until a new lease holder is found.
Rhonda Mills, Chairman of Burnham Chamber of Trade, said she too is sad to see the business closing.
“It’s very disappointing to see any shop go, especially when it is a long-running business like this. However, Burnham is fortunate to have a higher percentage occupation of independent shops than many similar-sized towns across the UK,” she told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“Our High Street shops offer a super range of products and services and we urge local people to support them.”
