‘Fake’ 80s Waitrose store in market town baffles shoppers

The store appeared in the market town of Corsham this month but shoppers were not able to buy anything.

They were soon told the store had been created for the hit Disney+ drama series Rivals, complete with the chain’s distinctive brown and white 80s branding.

READ MORE: Waitrose issues customer notice on free coffee

“They were very excited to see Waitrose arriving – we had to let a lot of people down,” said the series’ graphic designer Rosie Carmichael.

The Rivals range at Waitrose (Image: Waitrose)

In the new series of the drama, based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s racy novels, set in a fictional Cotswolds village, Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black, played by Alex Hassell, is seen opening a new branch of Waitrose in Stroud, Gloucestershire, saying: “It’s the best place to pick up a nice hunk of Cotswold blue.”

To celebrate season 2 of Rivals, streaming now on Disney+, Waitrose has created its own range of 80s-themed food.

The Waitrose Rivals range (Image: Waitrose)

This includes a scotch egg sandwich (£4), and a Thousand Island prawn sandwich (£4.10).

It comes after customers at the Botley Road Waitrose store were upset as the coffee machine had been out of action this week.

Waitrose customers with an account are able to access a free coffee with their Waitrose card – without having to make a purchase.

The store called in engineers to fix one of the dispensers but the second one remains broken.

Emily Atack (Image: Ian West/PA)

Rivals is set in a fictional location in the Cotswolds, and its actors attended a premiere for season 2 earlier this month.

The award-winning Disney+ show is based on the best-selling novel written by Dame Jilly Cooper, who died unexpectedly last October aged 88, and follows the high-stakes world of British television with the backdrop of the Cotswolds countryside.

Emily Atack, who plays the raunchy Sarah Stratton in the series, was among the celebrities gathered at the Soho Hotel in London for the star-studded screening.

She was joined on the pink carpet by co-stars, including Alex Hassell, who opted for a black suede jacket over a navy satin shirt.