THE East of England Co-operative Society is to carry out a major £1.2million revamp of its Felixstowe outlet at Great Eastern Square.The 40,000sq ft complex includes the society's biggest food store at 22,000sq ft, currently still bearing the Solar brand, a pharmacy, an optician's, a petrol station and a two-storey home store, as well as a car park.

THE East of England Co-operative Society is to carry out a major £1.2million revamp of its Felixstowe outlet at Great Eastern Square.

The 40,000sq ft complex includes the society's biggest food store at 22,000sq ft, currently still bearing the Solar brand, a pharmacy, an optician's, a petrol station and a two-storey home store, as well as a car park.

Work, including painting and decorating, new fixtures, new refrigeration, greengrocery units and new checkouts, is due to start on March 31, and the interior and exterior refurbishment is expected to be completed at the end of June.

The layout will be changed and a sandwich shop introduced. Popular features including the fish bar will be kept, but a new salad and delicatessen counter will be added, and will include local, fresh products.

The society, which has 200-plus outlets, hopes to keep the store open during most of the works, which are being carried out as part of a rolling programme of improvements across its stores.

The Solar Supermarket, managed by David Preston, and Great Eastern Square shopping centre opened in 1985 and are centred on the former Felixstowe Town railway station in Hamilton Road. The society's Home Store stands opposite.

The store will be re-branded as an East of England Co-operative store as part of the improvements.

Staff at the store have been consulted about what they would like to see, including new ranges, and the society is also seeking feedback from its customers about their preferences.

East of England Co-operative Society chief executive Richard Samson : “It will be a flagship really for the society. It's a big site. It's a whole range of businesses and it will be a demonstration of what the East of England Co-op is all about. Felixstowe is a town we are absolutely committed to and we wanted to reinvest in it.”

He added: “If customers have got any particular ranges they want, let us know. We always listen to local requirements.”