Corries to launch new food hall in Cherryvalley this week
Corries is poised to launch its groundbreaking new food hall, Fayre at Corries, in east Belfast.
The butchery retail chain has created the new food hall after acquiring Four Seasons Greengrocers and Delicatessen in Cherryvalley.
Corries Farm Butchers already had its own branch in Cherryvalley in the same row of shops as the new premises and was well placed to move when the opportunity to buy the Four Seasons came up.
Four Seasons has provided an extensive range of in-house ready meals and delivery services for fruit and vegetables and other foods, especially cheese and charcuterie, over many years to the people of east Belfast.
Owner Gary McNally approached William Corrie after making the decision to take early retirement.
“This idea grew of keeping the fruit and veg going because Gary had the deli aspect, and since then we’ve purchased Knotts – so then the bakers came into it,” says Corries’ Stock and Compliance Manager Julie Hope.
“So hopefully it will be that lovely food market style where people can come in and get the majority of what they need for their weekly shop.”
During the pandemic, Corries launched a website which allowed them to offer a wider range of food for sale, including a number of locally produced artisan lines.
Corries will now be able to showcase those products in the new larger food hall in Cherryvalley – due to open later this week – as well as on their website.
“We’ve added an upstairs so that we can add improved storage and an office space, and then that frees up more space down on the ground floor. We’ve pretty much gutted it, we took the roof off, we added another layer,” Julie says.
“We’re putting in the oven which can bake croissants and the cookies and different things fresh every day, several times a day. It’s basically a blank canvas, and it’s exciting to see the design grow. Even as the purchase of Knotts came in we allocated a bigger area for them, whereas before we were just looking for a baker to come on board for just a small part of it.
“There’s so much potential – we’ve got our fresh orange juice machine coming in, we’ve got the freshly baked bread, so those things could lead to other things. We’re keen to look at our sustainability aspect, so we’re looking at dispensers for granola, seeds and various items for fresh produce.”
