A new foodhall and community space is opening up in the heart of Sale town centre next week, and it’s just in time for Christmas.
Store Retail Group – the team behind the popular General Stores and foodhall concepts across the region – has announced that the Trafford suburb of Sale is the next place to welcome a brand-new foodhall to its town centre, and it’s opening next week ready for the busy festive season.
Sale Foodhall in Stanley Square will open to the public on Thursday 18 November, with an exciting line-up of food traders, community space, and new retail offering.
If you’re unfamiliar with the foodhall concept, it has already proved hugely-popular in Stretford and is now being rolled out in neighbouring Greater Manchester suburb with a large and colourful unit that has plenty of space for rotating indie food vendors, plus the much-loved artisan pizza experts Basillico, and proper tasty burger-slingers at What’s Your Beef set to join the lineup as permanent residents.
The first temporary trader to join the foodhall family at the new venue will be Eat Dutch, which is set to bring its authentic mini Dutch pancakes to Sale throughout November and December.
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Sale Foodhall in Stanley Square will open to the public on Thursday 18 November / Credit: LekkerEatDutch | Basillico Pizza
The new Sale Foodhall boasts a 150-cover dining and drinking space, plus an outdoor terrace, and it has replaced the ‘Groceries and Beer’ unit, which has been operated by the Store Group for the last two years, but has now relocated around the corner to the Stanley Square Shopping Mall in a huge 5,500 sq ft food, drink, and retail destination.
The new unit will also have a bar serving local craft beers, wine and spirits, a coffee shop with bakery unit, plus General Store’s trademark ‘cornershop’ retail space.
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The flexible spaces will provide a variety of uses for the local community, from pop-up retail spaces, to informal classes.
“We’re looking forward to becoming an even bigger part of the community here in Sale [as] it’s been a brilliant home to us over the last two years, and we can’t wait to open the doors to a much bigger space,” explains Mital Morar – Founder of Store Retail Group.
“This is a chance for us to evolve into that proper community hub that we always strive to create – from baby groups to beer tastings, everyone is welcome.
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“Our local neighbourhood is everything, and at the centre of will always be quality independent food and drink as well as convenience.”
Sale Foodhall is a large and colourful unit that has plenty of space for rotating indie food vendors / Credit: Store Retail Group
The grocery store within the new venue will offer the same great innovative neighbourhood retail concept that Store Retail Group has become known for, and as well as championing local makers from food and drink, to homeware, the shop will be a destination for artisan alcohol, local fresh baked goods, and zero-waste household essential refill stations too.
Sale Foodhall follows the launch of the Store Group’s two new General Store launches at Deansgate Square and in MediaCityUK earlier this year.
On top of that, there are also plans in the pipeline for another new General Store at Manchester’s new garden neighbourhood KAMPUS in the city centre, plus a new Foodhall in Northwich has already been announced, with more exciting plans to come.
Featured Image – Store Retail Group
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Oasis finally confirm ‘private ballot’ ticket information for reunion tour
Daisy Jackson
Oasis have just announced more information about how tickets will be sold through a ‘private ballot’ for their extra reunion tour dates.
The group added two additional shows at Wembley Stadium after their initial 17 gigs across London, Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff generated huge demand and sold out in a day.
Oasis and Ticketmaster came under fire though for the use of dynamic pricing, which saw ticket prices shoot up by hundreds of pounds by the time people made it through the online queues.
For these additional reunion tour dates at Wembley, ticket sales will look a little different.
They’ll be using a ‘private ballot’, which will give first dibs to those who missed out on the first ticket sale.
You’ll only be invited to register for the sale if you signed into your Ticketmaster account on Saturday 31 August, and joined a queue for a specific show.
And you’ll only receive an invitation if you DIDN’T manage to bag tickets the first time round.
THEN you’ll be able to register for the actual ballot, which still doesn’t guarantee you a ticket but does at least get you into a (hopefully less lengthy) queue.
“Invitations to enter the private ballot will be sent overnight tonight (Saturday) to eligible fans we have been able to identify.
“If you signed into your Ticketmaster UK account on Saturday, 31st August, and were able to join a queue for a specific show, but didn’t get a ticket-then you may be eligible to take part and will receive an email on how to register for the ballot.
“Keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Ticketmaster account, and don’t forget to check your junkmail.
“Once successfully registered, you will be entered into the ballot for a code for access to the final Wembley on sale.
“Due to the demand for the shows and to avoid last week’s long queues, codes will be strictly limited. Entry to the ballot does not guarantee you will receive a code.
“The ballot is only open to invited fans. You must register with the email to which your invitation was sent and which is registered with your Ticketmaster account.
“All other entries will be discounted. If you do not receive an email then unfortunately you will not be eligible for the ballot.
“You will be automatically discounted from the ballot, even if you go through the registration process.”
Featured image: Simon Emmett
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Manchester Airport named UK’s worst in annual Which? survey for third year running
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has officially been declared the worst airport in the UK, according to a new survey by Which?… yet again.
The summer travel season may be drawing to a close now, with hundreds of flights having taken off and landed in our region over the last couple of months, but for any Greater Manchester holidaymakers who are still yet to jet off, an annual ranking by consumer choice group Which? has proved to be pretty grim reading.
That’s because several terminals at the UK’s third largest airport have found themselves at the bottom of the list in Which? latest findings.
Manchester Airport has hit back at the survey and defended itself, saying its own passenger surveys suggest people are “much more positive” about the airport, adding that it was “proud to give people in all parts of the North easy and affordable access to nearly 200 different destinations across the world”.
For its annual survey, Which? spoke to nearly 7,000 passengers to gather feedback about their experiences of flying from UK airports over the last 12 months, and asked them to score the airports across 11 categories.
Manchester Airport has been named the worst in the UK for the third year running / Credit: The Manc Group
Some of these categories including seating, staff, toilets, and of course, the queues we all dread at check in, bag drop, passport control, and security.
And just like in both 2022 and again in 2023, it was Manchester Airport Terminal 3 that ranked right at the bottom, receiving the lowest customer satisfaction score of 37%.
Manchester Terminal 1 ranked one place above that with a score of 40%, while Manchester Terminal 2 was a little further up the the list with a score of 51%, and just saw Luton Airport, London Stansted, and Belfast International Airport sandwiched in between it.
According to Which?, some of the complaints it received about Manchester Airport from passengers who responded to the survey this year was that older people struggled with long walks due to travelators being broken since 2021, difficulties with finding a seat, and “horrendous” queues with people apparently being “corralled like cattle”.
As mentioned though, Manchester Airport has slammed Which?’s findings in a formal statement.
The UK’s third largest airport has hit back at the survey results and defended itself / Credit:
Describing the survey as “disappointing to see”, Manchester Airport’s statement reads: “We understand not every experience is perfect and want all passengers to feel able to raise their concerns directly with us. That is why we speak to them on a daily basis, surveying hundreds of people a month to get in-the-moment feedback from a full range of perspectives.
“That is in stark contrast to Which?, which conducted a tiny and unrepresentative survey of its members six months ago, asking them to recollect airport experiences that could have been as far back in time as April 2023.
“Which? fully understands that its readers form a narrow group of passengers whose views cannot in any way be taken to represent those of the travelling public at large, but chooses to promote its survey findings as if they do.”
Manchester Airport says it’s disappointing see Which? “chase cheap headlines” with its “sensational and over-simplified characterisation of airports” and the different roles they play, adding: “To make matters worse, it has printed inaccurate statements about our facilities and security waiting times that paint a more negative picture than reality.