Asda Luton reopens four months after fire hit the store

The Mayor of Luton and Luton Foodbank officially reopened the 44k square foot store on Wigmore Lane.

The superstore, which has been closed since March, received a £7.6 million investment to give the facilities a makeover.

Store manager David White, the store team and a representative from Luton Foodbank joined the Mayor of Luton, councillor Mohammad Ayub, as he cut the ribbon.

Mr White said: “The opening morning was a huge success and we’d like to thank everyone who came along to celebrate with us, including the Mayor of Luton. We know the temporary closure of the store has inconvenienced a lot of our customers so it’s good for the community to have us back, and it’s great for our colleagues to be back too.”

The Asda store provided them with ten pallets of supplies in May, the donated stock was rescued from the store during the fire evacuation, which required sixteen fire crews and the help of the store’s colleagues.

Salma Khan, Project Co-ordinator at Luton Foodbank, said: “It was a pleasure to have been invited to help open the store this morning, we had a great time.”

As part of the makeover there are new facilities in the store’s layout, including a halal counter, a travel bureau, a scan and go and new changing rooms following the George fashion revamp.

Amanda Burnham, Asda Luton’s community champion, said: “The colleagues have really missed everything about the store - seeing each other and all the regular customers. It’s an emotional day. I’ve worked at the store for 20 years so it’s fantastic to be back.”