Lidl milestone with 40th store opening in Holywood Exchange Retail Park
Lidl Northern Ireland has opened the doors of its brand-new store in Holywood Exchange Retail Park, creating 30 new local jobs and marking the retailer’s 40th store since establishing in Northern Ireland in 1999.
The Holywood Exchange store represents an investment of £3 million and creates 30 new jobs for the local area. Occupying a 1,400 sq metre sales floor and a total internal area of 2,050 square metres, the new store boasts a high-quality shopping environment with more space, wider aisles, longer tills, restrooms and baby-changing facilities.
‘Lidl-to-go’ coffee
Customers can also avail of a new ‘Lidl-to-Go’ coffee machine and a larger bakery area offering a wider range of freshly baked goods. The store also includes improved facilities for store staff such as a larger canteen, welfare area and shower facilities.
Holywood Exchange occupies a landmark position around three miles east of Belfast City Centre and eight miles from Bangor and is situated close to the town of Holywood. The site is also located at the primary gateway into Belfast Harbour Estate.
With a strong local road network and extensive parking of around 700 spaces in an established, growing retail location, the retail park is already home to Harvey Norman, Next Home, Decathlon, EZ Living Interiors, Costa Coffee and Subway, and is located next to Northern Ireland’s only IKEA store.
Part of ‘wider plan’
The new store at Holywood Exchange Retail Park is part of a wider plan by the retailer to dramatically enhance its service provision across Northern Ireland and forms part of a multi-million-pound investment programme to expand its presence in the region.
Lidl also welcomed representatives from nearby Mitchell Special School and local homeless charity Walk Inn to the new store who each received £500 worth of vouchers, as part of the retailer’s commitment to positively contributing to its local community.
Belfast City Region – five more stores
Earlier this year, Lidl Northern Ireland opened new stores in Ballymoney and Limavady, whilst plans for five new stores in the Belfast City Region were welcomed last week by Economy Minister Diane Dodds. The line-up of new stores includes Castlereagh Road, Hillview Retail Park on Crumlin Road, Boucher Road, Holywood Exchange and Shore Road. Plans for new stores in Newtownards, Newcastle, High Street Mall in Portadown and at Crescent Link and Buncrana Road in the North West of the region are also progressing.
Lidl Northern Ireland contributes around £180 million a year to the local economy, sustaining 3,500 jobs while buying and exporting as much as £290 million worth of local goods and products.
The store was opened by representatives from local sporting club, Queens Gymnastics, who officially cut the ribbon and welcomed customers to the new store. Based in Queens Leisure Complex in Holywood, the gymnastics club were named winners of Lidl Northern Ireland’s Sport for Good competition last year and received a £4,000 boost from the retailer to support the club.
