Mr D, have you heard of 'turnover per square foot', it's the holy grail of this sort of company. Everything which is stocked is stacked up against this criteria, every stock item has to justify its shelf space. On top of that everything you see, smell and even the ambience you feel inside a hypermarket these days is carefully measured and implanted. I would guess there is someone deep in the bowels of Tesco Towers who has a graph showing projected footfall and turnover for a Bedlington superstore and it must be showing a marginal case for development. Considering current government intervention on out of town retailing, high street impact, etc the only way this company can grow organically and domestically is to develop these marginal sites. If you think a small delegation of our population can have any influence whatsoever over these business principles.......................