Asda is hot favourite to replace co-op (From Western Telegraph)

Asda is hot favourite to replace co-op

As the Co-operative Group prepares to close its Haverfordwest supermarket on Friday, there is no hint of who might snap up this prime town centre site.

Many shelves at the Riverside Quay store remain bare after the Christmas rush as managers run down stocks ahead of this weeks closure.

Staff will lose their jobs although the company has promised to relocate some of the 54 employees to its other stores in the area.

News of the closure came four weeks before Christmas when the Co-operative Group admitted the store was under-performing.

It confessed it was unable to operate the supermarket with declining sales and increasing losses and could not justify the investment needed to modernise the building.

It plans to sell it to the highest bidder and speculation of who that buyer might be has been a major talking point.

Asda is a hot favourite because it has made no secret of its desire to be represented in Pembrokeshire.

Whoever takes over the site, retailers hope the new occupant will improve the mix of businesses in Haverfordwest.

Haverfordwest Town Centre Manager Gordon Doughty has expressed a preference for fashion retailers.

He believes that Next, Monsoon or River Island would help stem the loss of trade to Swansea and Cardiff, while improving the mix of fashion retailers in Haverfordwest.

A recent Western Telegraph poll among Haverfordwest shoppers indicated support for a music store or leisure centre at the site.

When the Co-operative closes, Haverfordwest will still have five other supermarkets - Tesco, Safeway, Kwik Save, Iceland and its newest addition, Lidl.