9:00 am, January 3, 2020
ARNOLD Clark is hoping to build a car supermarket on a former Toys R Us site in Warrington.
The Glasgow-based family-run dealership chain, which has some 200 showrooms across the UK, has lodged a planning application with Warrington Borough Council to transform the 2.42-hectare site on Europa Boulevard, which shut on April 27, 2018 after the toy retailer went into administration.
In its place, if approved, will be a 5,379 sq m Motorstore employing 80 people. Parking will be increased by 35 spaces to 524, although the number of slots for disabled drivers will be cut from 10 to two. It will, however, create 10 cycle spaces. There will also be a service workshop with MOT test area as well as a forecourt display, a vehicle preparation centre, body/paint shop, plus vehicle rentals.
In the application, Arnold Clark calls the site ‘an excellent location to expand’ and says it will ‘provide an excellent customer experience and, ultimately, create employment opportunities within the area’.
If allowed, it wants to open the Motorstore from 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm on Saturdays, and 11am to 5pm on Sundays.
Pictured at top is the site in 2017 when Toys R Us was operating there – Image: Google Street View
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