Lidl gets larger and larger – more stores planned for Northern Ireland

Lidl gets larger and larger – more stores planned for Northern Ireland

LIDL plans to open its first supermarket in south Belfast with a drive-thru café – following on from its plans to open a pub in its Dundonald store, announced earlier this year.

The retailer, which has 38 stores in Northern Ireland, has acquired a vacant site on Belfast’s Boucher Road shopping district –  located at the front of the Olympia Leisure Centre. Lidl this week submitted a proposal of application notice to Belfast City Council, officially announcing its intentions for the site.

Last month, Hillview Retail Park on the Crumlin Road, owned by Killultagh Estate’s Hillview Belfast Limited, announced Lidl and Home Bargains as tenants when it reopens next year.

New stores have also been given the green light in Hollywood Exchange and Newtownards.

A vacant 21,500 square foot unit next to IKEA and Harvey Norman, that was previously occupied by Wrights Sofa Land, has been given the go-ahead by Belfast City Council’s planners.

Ards and North Down Council have also granted planning permission for a new Lidl foodstore, to be built opposite Castlebawn Retail Park on a two acre site of undeveloped land which will be known as the Hawksbay Retail Park. The £5.5million Newtownards plan involves the provision of 136 car parking spaces, landscaping and associated siteworks.

The £2.6million investment aims to create 26 new jobs, and involves construction of a rear extension and loading bay, alterations to the elevations, and an external trolley bay.

In July, Lidl announced that it planned to open one store per week in the UK, creating up to 1,000 new jobs by the end of the year.

The discounter also plans to open a further 100 outlets in 2021 and 2022 as part of a £1.3bn investment. It aims to have 1,000 stores operating in Great Britain by the end of 2023.

Lidl Ireland employs 5,000 employees in its 163 stores, Head Office in Tallaght, three distribution centres and regional offices based in Charleville, Mullingar and Newbridge, serving in excess of two million customers per week.

The chain has been steadily increasing its market share of the multi-billion euro supermarket business.

Looking beyond 2020, Lidl has ambitious plans for over 50 more stores across the island of Ireland. Lidl works with over 200 Irish food suppliers and invests €700 million in sourcing Irish produce annually.