By Richard Spillett Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou had hoped to open the first of his new supermarkets on the ground floor of his latest hotel complex but has been scuppered by local planning chiefs The founder of easyJet is looking for a new location for his first budget supermarket after plans to open it Croydon, south London were thwarted by council planning bosses. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou wanted to launch his new 'easyFoodstore' chain on the ground floor of his new building, which is also set to become the latest in his easyHotel empire. But the idea was ruled out at an early stage by local planning chiefs, who insisted the building was outside the borough's 'retail zone'.
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Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou had planned to open a trial store in Croydon
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It would have formed the ground floor of an easyHotel and office complex
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But his plans were nipped in the bud by local planning bosses
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The site will now host a closed mock-up of how the store will look
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This will be tested on shoppers before the chain is potentially expanded
His @placeholder business, which currently runs 20 hotels, wants to raise £60m in the move, the first flotation the tycoon has attempted since his airline floated in 2000.