MORE than 200 jobs will be created with the opening of Bolton's new Sainsbury's supermarket on Thursday..

The doors of the old store in Flash Street will close for the final time at 6pm today and the £13 million development across the road opens for business at 9am on Thursday.

Supermarket chiefs hope the curved, futuristic-looking roof of the store, off Crook Street, will become a landmark in the area.

They are aiming the supermarket at young families and claim prices will be cheaper than at "normal" Sainsbury supermarkets.

The store comes complete with a cafe and petrol station and there will be 480 car park spaces. For the first time at Sainsbury's in Bolton, there will also be a clothing section.

The total floor space is 50,000 sq ft -- twice as big as the old store.

Manager Michael Broadhurst will open the store at 9am. This will be the largest store he has managed and it will be his biggest challenge. Now in his 16th year in retail -- the last five spent as a store manager -- he has overseen Sainsbury's supermarkets in Stockport and Darwen. What will happen to the old site is still a mystery. Four bidders are believed to be vying to snap up the old store although a sale is understood to be some way off.

Bolton Council has looked at the building with a view to creating a town centre swimming pool to replace the Water Place -- a structure currently rotting away following its closure a few months ago.

But speculation is mounting that the old Sainsbury's may be sold to two retail developers and sliced in half.

The supermarket has been built on the site of the famous Hick Hargreaves & Co factory. Access to the new store is via a single, traffic light controlled junction on Trinity Street, near the junction with Blackhorse Street.

It forms part of a £100 million investment project by the supermarket company in the North-west.

Mr Broadhurst said the new store had been designed using customer research to meet the demands of the local community.

He said: "We've designed the layout of the store to ensure our customers can easily get around and see all of the produce we have on sale.

"It's an exciting, huge store for me -- certainly the largest I've managed -- and I'm looking forward to the task.

"We wanted to mix the range of goods on offer which is why we are also selling popular non-food items. This means customers will be able to pick-up clothes, toys, homeware and electrical goods -- and hopefully be tempted by our food counters."