Historic Booths store reborn as Tesco Express

The former Booths store in St Annes, Lancashire, is to become a Tesco Express following the sale of the building to local investor Whitesides Property.

Robert Pinkus & Co advised EH Booth & Co on the sale and was retained by the new owners to agree the letting of the 8,326 sq ft store to Tesco.

The property occupies a prominent position in the heart of St Annes Square, home to B&M Bargains, WHSmiths, JR Taylor Department Store and Edinburgh Woollen Mill. Booths previously traded from the property for nearly 90 years before its new 30,000 sq ft store on Haven Road, Lytham opened in 2007.

Tesco will begin work on the site shortly to transform the property into a Tesco Express which they expect to be open later this year. The upper floors of the building will remain in the occupation of Lou-Shang Cantonese Restaurant.

The exterior of the property features an attractive mural, commissioned by E H Booth & Co. Ltd. in the 1960s by the late local artist Claude Harrison, a Lancastrian artist most famous for his portrayal of harlequins, clowns and masked figures often depicted against bleak, landscaped backdrops. The mural is believed to represent the origins of the delicatessen products sold by Booths such as the cheeses, teas and speciality coffees sourced both locally and from exotic corners of the world.