Tesco are set to build Britain’s first supermarket exclusively designed for “silver shoppers”.
The supermarket giant has submitted plans to open a pensioner-friendly store in Newcastle on the site of the city’s general hospital to the City Council’s Development Control Committee.
If given the green light, work on the 60,000sq ft store could begin later this year. Special features would include extra wide aisles, anti-slip flooring, trolleys with locking wheels and magnifying glasses, and built-in chairs to rest tired feet.
A party of OAPs have been flown out to Berlin by academics from the city’s university to report on the Kaiser supermarket, the first of its kind in Germany .
According to the store’s bosses, sales at the Kaiser supermarket have increased by 25 per cent above forecast figures since it opened in 2005, with more than 60 per cent of its customers aged over 50.
Professor Jim Edwardson, founder of the Institute for Ageing and Health at Newcastle University, explained: “This will be an exciting opportunity to find out how supermarket shopping can be improved.
“Almost everything about supermarket shopping in the UK is wrong for elderly customers, from shelving that is too high to reach or too low to get to.”
“Retailers need to address the needs of an ageing population and the opportunities to support healthy lifestyles and independence,” he added.
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