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.”

The post Corries to launch new food hall in Cherryvalley this week first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Trading as CostCutter until September 2021, the owners made the decision to develop their business with the Henderson Group and the SPAR NI brand, to bring an upgraded level of convenience, value and everyday essentials to the local community. The development has also created six new jobs for the local area.

The all-new SPAR Dublin Road site has received a full overhaul and fit-out, now standing at 1,000 sq. ft. of store space offering six bays of fresh, locally sourced products from Henderson’s own-brand The CHEF and Greengrocer’s ranges.

Craig said: “Moving towards a SPAR partnership with Henderson Group gives us the opportunities to develop our business as well as provide a one-stop-shop for our local community. Local stores are incredibly important to shoppers, especially after the past couple of years, and we made the decision to bring SPAR to the area as it made the most sense for meeting demand.

“We have a bigger range of products for tonight’s tea, a huge number of everyday essentials at value prices, plus food-to-go items including Costa Coffee and breakfast and lunch options from the dailyDeli, which cater to the passing trade we experience being on the main route from Belfast to Dublin. Our vision is to bring the best, freshest products to our customers and we believe trading with Hendersons and SPAR will provide all of that and more.”

The store also has 14 car parking spaces providing even more convenience for their shoppers, plus extended opening hours from 4:30am to 11pm, Monday to Friday, catering even further towards the commuter trade, with weekend trading from 6am – 11pm on Saturdays and 7am – 11pm on Sundays.

Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Group added: “We are delighted to welcome Alistair and Craig to the SPAR NI family. Independent retailing is providing important community services across every town in Northern Ireland, and ensuring local communities can have access to fresh, local products at value prices is what SPAR is all about.

“Alistair and Craig have built a successful business with Dublin Road Convenience, and their growth has been very impressive over the past five years. Alongside their son Johnny at the managerial helm of the store, this is a team that knows their customer base and knows their business and we wish them every continued success for the future with SPAR NI.”

The post Local retailers complete works on new SPAR in Newry first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.