Ballymena Store Enjoys Upgrade

Sainsbury’s are celebrating the 15th Anniversary of their presence in Northern Ireland by opening a major new extension and upgrade of the facilities on offer at the first of their stores to open in the Province.

The very first Sainsbury’s to open in Northern Ireland – which in 1996 became the first to carry the name locally – is undergoing a £5 million investment, Ballymena’s Braidwater Retail Park store is expanding and will benefit from a new café, pizza bar, food-to-go counter as well as a new delicatessen, bakery and meat and fish counters. The store is situated on the western edge of Ballymena’s centre, on the Larne Link Road.

Sainsbury’s retail lead for the project, Emer Torney, added, “This is a substantial investment by Sainsbury’s in the Ballymena store which shows our continued commitment to provide customers in Northern Ireland with stores that are not only fantastic to shop in but also have a really wide range of food and non-food items. We have added a 6,000ft2 extension that has enabled us to increase the area for general merchandise by a factor of three and the clothing area (TU range) by a factor of two. This is good because our clothing range, in particular for women and children, sells very well here in a catchment area with a very young age group.”

“The other addition is a new café and hot food area offering chicken, potato wedges and, of course pizzas – these are either available ready made or you can make them to suit your taste. The new café, which opened in mid-May, is at the front of the building and offers a wide range of freshly cooked meals, ranging from chicken curry through fish and chips to salmon salad. It will seat up to 100 people. We pride ourselves on using a large number of local suppliers. Our 12 stores here in the Province currently work with more than 100 local suppliers to source more than £250 million worth of products, £40 million of which is sold locally. This includes fresh fruit and vegetables in season and all our beef, together with much of our pork and lamb and, of course fish.”

Emer continued, “We are working with a number of local contractors and our own team to ensure the Ballymena store can continue to trade for most of the period of the refurbishment. Work is scheduled to be completed in early summer 2011. The prime contractor is local firm McLaughlin & Harvey. We have worked to minimise disruption to customers during this period and colleagues in store have been able to provide shoppers with information about the different stages of the refurbishment throughout the period. This is a substantial investment by Sainsbury’s in the Ballymena store which shows our continued commitment to provide customers in Northern Ireland with stores that are not only fantastic to shop in but also have a really wide range of food and non-food items.”

This is the second major investment in an existing store in the last 12 months with the Newry store enjoying a similar investment in 2010. There are plans for additional investment in Northern Ireland with three potential new stores currently in the planning process.

For further information please telephone 02825 644940 or visit www.j-sainsbury.co.uk.