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Shoppers QueueD for opening day
A discount shopping chain besieged by customers when it opened a new store in Wellingborough has confirmed it is looking at the possibility of opening more branches in the north of the county.
Crowds gathered outside the former Woolworths shop for the opening of the first QD Stores branch in Northamptonshire.
Although the firm will not make any comment on the prospect of the chain expanding to vacant Woolworths sites in Kettering, Corby or Rushden, managing director Justin Farrington Smith said the company was looking at further sites in the county.
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He said: "We don't make any comment on stores until we have got the keys, but we are looking at other sites in Northamptonshire."
The former Woolworths in Wellingborough is not the first former branch of the chain QD Stores has taken over. The firm has also moved into old branches in places including Beccles in Suffolk and North Walsham in Norfolk.
Mr Farrington Smith said he hoped QD Stores could bring "something new"
to Wellingborough.
He said: "We had quite a long queue at 9am when we opened the doors and we hope we are going to add more to Wellingborough.
"What we want is a strong, vibrant high street – there's no point in having QD Stores as an oasis on its own.
"There's not another retailer doing the products we are doing so it's something different, something new and another reason to come into Wellingborough to do your shopping."
Rosemary Hutchins, from Wellingborough, was among the first shoppers to look around the new shop.
She said: "The new shop is nice, it's set out well.
"When it was empty I wished someone would take it on and now this lot are here."
Tracey Martin, of Lydia Court in Rushden, came over to Wellingborough to see the new store.
He said: "We have used the one in Lowestoft so we thought we would see what this new one is like.
"It's good because it's bringing some more jobs.
"It was a shame to see Woolworths go but it's nice to see stores full rather than sitting empty."
QD Stores' hunt for new employees for the Wellingborough store attracted attention because of the number of people who applied.
At the recruitment day at the Hind Hotel, more than 1,800 people turned up for just 15 jobs.
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Weather for Kettering
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
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Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
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