The co-op closed because it was badly run and managed and staffed, so that it often didn't have stock. The freezers kept breaking down until they gave up and just took most of them away. Most of the tills didn't work or weren't staffed, so that there were mostly queues even when it wasn't busy.
Basically, the co-op clearly decided it didn't want to keep the shop going, and let it run down until they were able to sell it.
The staff there were really unhappy, and they also told me that there were a lot of shop lifters, because of being near the station, I suppose, or perhaps because they are near a football ground. Either way, they lost a lot of stock that way, and had to employ security guards as well. And cars kept being burnt out in the car park, because it wasn't sufficiently overlooked and didn't have cctv. And they had to pay someone to staff that, as well, during opening hours, because it was so close to the station that commuters would have filled it up otherwise. So, that cut into their profits, too.
All in all, not a good experience for the co-op. But I used it regularly, because it was so convenient, and I believe in co-ops, too.
We can only hope that the Aldi folks have been told about all the problems and are ready to deal.
