Video: new state-of-the-art £8 million Lidl store nears completion at Orritor Retail Park in Cookstown
Work on the new £8 million Lidl store in Cookstown is nearing completion.
The store at Orritor Road will replace its current outlet at Station Square, off Molesworth Street, which was the retailer's first supermarket to open on the island of Ireland.
Although no opening date has yet been announced, Lidl is expected to make give an update within the next week.
It will create 18 additional jobs in the town and expand its existing retail team to 40 employees.
Construction work started on the Orritor site just over a year ago as the popular retailer celebrated its 25th anniversary in Northern Ireland.
The new store will include an enlarged 1,670 sq. m sales floor within the new 2,475 sq. m building, incorporating wider aisles, an instore bakery, toilets, baby-changing facilities and employee areas built to exacting standards with sustainability at the fore.
Speaking at the time planning approval was given to the project, Ivan Ryan, Lidl Northern Ireland's Managing Director, said: "Our Cookstown store – the first to be built on the island of Ireland in 1999 – was one of the stores where I completed my initial training many years ago, so I’m delighted that our exciting plans to invest £8 million in the development of a new retail facility in the town will become a reality in my tenure as Regional Managing Director.
"In a prime and convenient new location on the bustling Orritor Road, with modern facilities, our new Cookstown store will provide our growing number of customers with a premier shopping experience."
The new store will be part of the Orritor Retail Park and located close to other leading retailers, including M&S and Tesco.
Mid Ulster District Councillor Trevor Wilson, who represents Cookstown, said local people are looking forward to the store opening.
He expressed the hope that it will attract more shoppers into the town.
"It will be a great asset to the town and fits well into the Orritor Retail Park giving shoppers more choice,” he said. "Lidl has been in Cookstown a long time and is popular with many shoppers.”
He added that the creation of 18 new jobs was “also very welcome.”