New Lidl set to open in Mosta

A new supermarket will replace a disused concrete manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Mosta in the vicinity of the MCAST campus, to be taken over by the Lidl low-cost supermarket chain.

A preliminary outline permit for the supermarket was approved back in February, after an application was presented by Fort Blocks Limited, a subsidiary of construction firm Gatt Brothers Limited.

Now a full permit application has been presented by Ricardo Magarini from Lidl Immobiliare, the Italian arm of the Lidl supermarket chain.

Replacing the existing Fort Blocks industrial complex, the new development will include a 1,390m² supermarket, a 450m² fitness centre, a 1,450m² external fitness centre, a beauty centre, a childcare centre and an outside kids’ area. 

The development will also include an underground car park for 124 vehicles.

The developers are arguing that the proposed location of the supermarket, far away from the town centre, is ideal for customers coming from Burmarrad and St Paul’s Bay, as well as for those coming from Rabat, Mgarr and Naxxar, who can reach the supermarket without driving through Mosta centre.

“If such an application were proposed within or on the edge of the Mosta town centre, it would have aggravated Mosta’s current traffic issue,” the developers said prior to the supermarket’s approval.

A retail impact assessment carried out to assess the impact of the Mosta supermarket on other outlets prediceds that the greatest effect of customer displacement will be felt by GS Supermarket in Naxxar and Ta’ Natu supermarket in Mosta.

The RIA states that the new supermarket’s catchments area will include Mosta, Mgarr, Bidnija, Naxxar, Rabat and Mtarfa, whose residents will be the most likely to visit the supermarket for their shopping. 

The study concludes that the new supermarket will mostly attract customers from the Santa Margarita, Ta’ Zokrija, Tal-Blata l-Gholja and Tal-Wej areas in Mosta.

At the moment these areas form part of the GS Supermarket’s catchment.

Customers from Mellieha and St Paul’s Bay who commute southwards to their place of work are also expected to buy from the new supermarket. 

The study – which is commissioned by the applicants themselves – claims there is no serious long-term threat to existing stores and that existing retailers will be able to respond to the higher competition “with aggressive marketing and sales campaigns”.

In the long run the new supermarket and GS supermarket would actively compete for business generated by these neighbourhoods, but the study notes that GS Supermarket’s catchment area also includes Iklin, San Gwann and parts of Birkirkara, which will not be affected by the opening of the new supermarket.

Lidl has already tried to establish itself in Mosta.In 2007 MEPA rejected an application presented by construction magnate Charles Polidano on an ODZ site known Ta’ Mellu.