WAITROSE in Monmouth warmly welcomed customers back to their Monmouth branch on Thursday, with the flood-hit store reopening just in time for the festive season.

The branch was severely affected when the Monnow burst its banks as Storm Claudia hit the town, but they are back again and ready to serve residents this Christmas.

Partners welcomed people through their doors again with a cheerful smile and festive spirit, and shoppers said how happy they were that the store was back open again.

The reopening followed fellow flagship store Marks & Spencer launching again last week.

Waitrose announced its closure after the devastating flooding wiped out lots of businesses in the town on Saturday morning, November 15.

Speaking at the reopening, Monmouth branch manager Chris Bluett expressed his gratitude to customers who had shown unwavering support during this difficult time.

“It is fantastic to be back open, the shop looks really good and we have had lots of support from partners from right across the estate that have come to help us, as well as our own team, so I think customers will be really pleased with what they see when they come back into the shop.

“My team are delighted to be back and the reactions here so far this morning from customers has been good – they are really pleased we are back open and it’s really nice to see them again.”

Over the festive period, the branches are holding Christmas tastings for customers to enjoy, giving them a small taste of some of their festive picks.

“We’ve got some tastings planned over the next couple of days, just tastings of our seasonal range that we’ve got for our customers over the festive period, added Chris.

“We will be doing some tastings today, Friday and Saturday and continuing over the Christmas period.”

The range includes pistachio and cherry wreath, part of the Waitrose number one range, Brown Butter Mince Pies with Cognac and Golden Limoncello Mince Pies that they will be sampling over the next couple of days as well as a range of other products in their seasonal selection.

One of the tastings has been put together by the cheese and deli counter who have wished residents in Monmouth a Merry Christmas.

Due to the flooding closure, the Monmouth staff were relocated to different branches, including Abergavenny and Hereford as well as Pontprennau in Cardiff.

“What’s been really good is they have met a lot of our customers that have continued to shop in those branches, and they have been really well looked after,” said Chris.

All the staff have been working tirelessly to get the shop back up and running again, but are now ready to help serve customers as usual, offering their support and time for anything they need help with.

The store is fully stocked, and there are Christmas, festive decorations which further add to the community spirit.

The opening hours for the Monmouth branch are Sunday 10am-4pm; Monday- Friday 7.30am-9pm and Saturday 7.30am-8pm.