More than 2,000 islanders have backed a Skye woman’s efforts to encourage one of Europe’s fastest-growing supermarkets to set up shop.
Marion Colven says she was told there was “no appetite” for a new provider to come in as developers had registered no interest from supermarkets, so she decided to take it upon herself to write to bosses at Aldi.
Mrs Colven said she and others had grown fed up of the lack of options and competition for the Coop, who currently have the island’s three supermarkets.
Now the German-based chain has said it will visit Skye later this year to see if it may be the perfect location for a new store.
Mrs Colven contacted Aldi managing director Richard Holloway and was pleased to receive a response from the chain’s property director Andy Doyle.
Mr Doyle said he intends to visit Skye later this year to “assess the prospects of us being able to deliver a successful store”, which would have to be located “in a populated area on a prominent road”.
He added that the supermarket provider usually seeks areas of between one-and-a-half acres and two acres.
In September last year, Aldi unveiled ambitious expansion plans, saying it hoped to open a new store in the UK every week, on average, for the next two years.
The discount retailer said it would invest £1 billion to achieve its aim, with bosses adding: “The reality is that almost 50% of the population of the UK doesn’t currently shop with us and they tell us the main reason for that is that they don’t have a store nearby.”
Mrs Colven said she’d shared her thoughts on social media and created an online petition to gauge support.
The petition has since gathered more than 2,200 signatures in little more than three days.
Mrs Colven said she was “utterly amazed at the support” adding that she is “sick of not having the variety or choice of shops other places have”.
She added: “Everyone I spoke to was as keen as I was to have some competition, therefore, I decided to do something about it and get in touch with the managing director of Aldi. I got a pretty positive reply.
“It often feels that we pay through the nose for some items you can get for half the price away from Skye.”
She added that if items are unavailable in the Coop supermarkets, as can be the case during the busy tourist season, some islanders are forced to go without necessities such as bread and milk.
Mrs Colven is keen to see a new supermarket on the island despite delivery vans from both Asda and Tesco visiting in their droves each day.
She has said the influx of delivery vans, which she estimates at more than five per day, “does not benefit the island” as it “does not create any jobs for people on the island”.
Local councillor John Finlayson said it was “encouraging” to hear of the interest and said he would be happy to assist in any future conversations.