THE long-running saga to find a tenant for the former Lo-Cost building in Haslemere town centre could soon be over.
A Horley-based departmental store, Collingwood Batchellor, is planning to take over the shop in the High Street which has been empty for nearly six years.
Store director Guy Collingwood told The Herald this week that negotiations were still continuing and he hoped that the shop would be open in May.
There are plans to include a mezzanine floor to the new shop which will sell high-quality furniture and bedding and provide a total retail selling space of around 8,000 sq ft.
Mr Collingwood said the company was "very much looking forward" to coming to Haslemere.
"All the people we have met have been very positive and we are keen to enhance that part of the town," said Mr Collingwood.
The independent family business has a number of stores in the South including a 32,000 sq ft department store in Horley which has been in business for the past 34 years and two other furniture shops in Horsham and Haywards Heath.
Lo-Cost closed its doors in 1996 and speculation has continued over its future ever since.
The building has remained an empty shell and was left to deteriorate for several years.
Over the years, a number of prospective tenants have pulled out of negotiations including clothiers Mackays and Haslemere bedding shop, The Land of Nod.
The building is owned by Akzo Nobel Pension Fund and is leased by the Co-operative Group.
Mr Collingwood said that a planning application for alterations to the shop would be submitted soon to Waverley Borough Council.