Sainsbury’s has revealed plans to open new supermarkets in Omagh and Derry as part of a deal to acquire a group of leasehold stores from Homebase.
The grocer announced the deal on Tuesday morning to take on the leasehold interest in 10 Homebase sites across the UK, a deal worth around £130 million, potentially creating around 1,000 new roles within the group.
The list includes the Homebase stores in Derry City’s Crescent Link Retail Park and Omagh’s Great Northern Retail Park.
“J Sainsbury plc has reached an agreement to acquire 10 leasehold stores from HHGL Limited, trading as Homebase, for conversion into Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
“The transaction is expected to complete in early September,” the company said in a statement.
Once converted, Sainsbury’s said the shop floor area of the 10 new stores will range from approximately 15,000 to 40,000 square feet.
The stores are due to open from the summer of 2025.
“The addition of new locations means nearly 400,000 more people will be within a 10-minute drive of a Sainsbury’s supermarket,” said the company.
“The new stores will showcase Sainsbury’s latest food offer with a refreshed, innovative look and feel and excellent sustainability credentials.”
Sainsbury’s said it will begin opening the new stores next summer, with the aim of completing the conversion of all sites by the end of 2025.
It’s still not clear how many Homebase staff could be at risk of redundancy as a result of the deal.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said any Homebase employee placed at risk of redundancy as a result of the transaction will be guaranteed an interview with the company.
Sainsbury’s currently operate from Derry’s Strand Road, but the new Omagh site represents new ground for the retail brand, which also owns Argos.
The chief executive of the supermarket chain, Simon Roberts, said: “Sainsbury’s food business continues to go from strength to strength as we push ahead with our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan.
“We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitors and driving consistent growth in volume market share.
“We want to build on this momentum which is why we are growing our supermarket footprint.
“Our ambition is to 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.”
