Homebase - Neighbourhood Retailer

Two new Sainsbury’s supermarkets planned following Homebase store acquisitions

Caroline Rainey — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 13:25:19 +0000

Sainsbury’s is set to open two more stores in Northern Ireland, following an agreement to convert former Homebase stores.

In a transaction expected to complete in early September, Sainsbury’s will acquire 10 leasehold stores from HHGL Limited, trading as Homebase for conversion into supermarkets.

The two Northern Ireland stores will be in Omagh and Derry~Londonderry.

A key ambition of the retailer’s Next Level Sainsbury’s plan is to offer more food choice to customers and the new locations will grow its coverage across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

Once converted, the shop floor area of the stores will range from approximately 15,000 to 40,000 square feet and will add a total of 235,000 sq ft to their supermarket trading space.

The new stores will showcase Sainsbury’s latest food offer with a refreshed, innovative look and feel and sustainability credentials.

CEO Simon Roberts said Sainsbury’s food business continues to go from strength to strength.

“We want to build on this momentum which is why we are growing our supermarket footprint. Our ambition is be customers’ first choice for food and these new stores will showcase some of the best that Sainsbury’s supermarkets have to offer to even more communities around the country,” he said.

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Rushmere retail park and shopping centre sold for £56m

Joe Kearney — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 10:28:26 +0000

One of the largest shopping centres and retail parks in Northern Ireland has been sold for more than £56m.

Rushmere Shopping Centre in Craigavon is now sale agreed after it was placed on the market earlier this summer with a price tag of £57m. It’s understood there was significant interest in the property.

The major site is being sold off to LCP — a property business which is new to the Northern Ireland market.

The sale of the commercial property asset is believed to be the biggest of its kind so far this year.

The property was marketed by commercial property agents Savills and CBRE NI in what they had anticipated would be the biggest investment of the year. Neither wished to comment on the deal.

Speaking about the shopping centre, Neil McShane of commercial property consultancy Inprio, said it’s arguably among the top five major retail spots in Northern Ireland.

“While the shopping centre sector has suffered in recent years, retail parks have continued to perform well and attract strong levels of investor interest,” he said.

The property, which comprises more than 30 acres across the retail park and 50 commercial units in the shopping centre, is the dominant retail scheme within the wider urban area of Craigavon.

Rushmere Shopping Centre and Retail Park is home to some of the UK and Ireland’s most well known retailers, and the recent anchor letting secured to Primark will enhance its retailing appeal.

Other retailers include Boots, Home Bargains, Superdrug and Dunnes Stores in the shopping centre, as well as Homebase, Matalan, Next and Currys/PC World in the retail park.

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Iceland supermarket ‘walking away’ from planned Londonderry store

Linda Stewart — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 09:23:37 +0000

Supermarket chain Iceland has scrapped plans to open a new Londonderry store over planning process delays.

The retailer said it had hoped to open a third store in the Crescent Link area of the city.

Managing director of Iceland, Richard Walker, told BBC Radio Four’s Any Questions they were now “walking away”.

“In Derry-Londonderry we’ve actually given up because after two years of trying to apply for planning we’re still waiting for a decision,” he said.

Mr Walker told the programme on Friday evening that “less bureaucracy and getting government out of the way” in local planning would allow the private sector to get on with job creation.

The managing director said this was the case “for many stores” they wished to open across the United Kingdom.

Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed that a planning application was submitted in February 2021 for a proposed development at the Crescent Link site.

The council said that while Iceland has no individual planning applications with the council, the company is understood to be involved in a full application, alongside another retailer.

A spokesperson for the council said the major retail application was “a complex proposal” and one with “a number of issues the council had to take into consideration as part of an application of this scale”.

The council said some issues it would need to address in the application would be the fact that Crescent Link is a “bulky goods” retail park, as well as the retail impact, traffic impact and congestion.

The supermarket chain has two stores in Derry – one at Foyleside Shopping Centre and another at Buncrana Road.

There is also another store located a short distance from Derry in Strabane, County Tyrone.

The Crescent Link site is one of the biggest retail developments in the north-west and includes retail giants like Homebase, Tesco and Marks & Spencer.

SDLP councillor Brian Tierney said that “there are clearly issues with the planning system”.

Mr Tierney said his party has raised concerns on numerous occasions in recent years and have been frustrated with the lack of progress.

A spokesperson said the council is “committed to continuing to work closely with the agent, the consultants and consultees to review the submission”.

Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed that upon receipt of further feedback, a full report and recommendation will be brought before a future meeting of the planning committee.

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