I haven't time to read all this thread but fail to see how any other brand would do much better on the hollins site. There's no extra space to get a bigger store
Actually the entire site, including the row of small shops next door, (charity shop, estate agent etc), plus the huge delivery yard at the back, is quite big, but it's inefficiently designed. A 'proper' supermarket company taking over the site would probably demolish and rebuild, creating a much larger retail area.
And call me naive but it's better to keep the faith in a genuine co-operative than a greedy corporate monster?
Naive, maybe, and also admirably idealistic - but we are paying through the nose for it, Co-op prices being consistently higher than the other supermarkets. And the quality is variable, and the shelves are poorly stocked. That's why most Marple residents do their supermarket shopping elsewhere.