A busy pub could be turned into a Sainsbury's store.
The supermarket giant has lodged plans to convert Varsity, in London Road, Leicester, into a shop.
Should the application be approved by Leicester City Council, Varsity would close and be replaced by the store.
Paul Sellers, Sainsbury's regional acquisitions manager, said: "Sainsbury's is in negotiations to open a convenience store at the Varsity public house, subject to planning and licensing.
"If successful, we hope to be open towards the end of the year, providing local people with more choice and up to 30 full and part-time jobs."
Last year, the Leicester Mercury reported that Sainsbury's was interested in opening a branch on the former site of Page & Moy travel agents, near Varsity.
The site was vacated by the travel firm when it moved to Market Harborough in 2006.
However, the chain put that plan on hold when it was refused permission to sell alcohol at the store because of issues with anti-social behaviour in the area.
Mr Sellers told the Mercury the company was no longer interested in the Page & Moy site.
It is understood Sainsbury's believes it has a better chance of securing an off-licence for its new proposed site because the pub is already serving alcohol on the premises.
Planners at the city council are considering the scheme.
Officials at the authority have received more than 20 letters of objection to the plan.
They range from concerns that an off-licence will increase anti-social behaviour and street drinking, to the potential for traffic problems.
Some residents fear more cars are likely to be drawn to a shop than a pub, and the plan includes no extra parking. They fear nearby streets will become clogged up with the parked cars of shoppers.
Some objections centre on concerns that a major chain store setting up could harm nearby independent shops. Newsagent Manish Radia, who runs the Mercury News Shop nearby, said: "I've been here for about three-and-a-half years and I've built up a good business. That's all going to go to waste if Sainsbury's move in.
"They've been denied an alcohol licence once, because police are concerned about street drinkers in the area.
"If they start selling strong alcohol it'll be like attracting moths to a flame, and people will hang out outside the shop, and some will be up to no good."
Stoneygate ward councillor Lucy Chaplin has objected to the move.
In a letter to planners, she said: "At the Tesco Express store further down London Road, the problems of cars being parked up when someone pops in to shop has been a very real inconvenience and danger to traffic.
"Recently, no-waiting cones have been put in place outside the shop. That does nothing for the street scene and that would have to be the case if another supermarket opened further up the road."
Sainsbury's has recently opened a store in Narborough Road, on the other side of the city, and is creating a superstore on the old GE Lighting site in Melton Road, Rushey Mead.
The Mercury contacted Varsity for a comment, but the manager said she preferred not to give one.
