Diamond's newsagents: one of Ballymena's longest-running businesses to be put up for sale

In a social media post, Eugene Diamond of Diamond's newsagents said he had to make the sad decision due to ongoing health problems, adding: “Since March I have had to step back from working my usual hours. I’ve had 45 great years here on Broughshane Street, but all things come to a end.”

In a 2024 feature on Ballymena’s oldest businesses, Eugene told of how the building that houses the newsagents was once home to a small 'front room shop' in the 1940s and 50s.

The newsagent as we know it today was opened in 1979, and in the early days stocked newspapers, cigarettes and basic groceries like bread and milk. "At that time, we would have been the last shop before Martinstown," said Eugene, whose early starts over the years saw him open the shop at 5:30am daily.

The area around Diamond's has changed considerably in the intervening decades, with neighbours including the Fairhill Shopping Centre and the Asda Express petrol station growing up around it.

In recent years, the shop has hosted Radio Ulster and the Downtown Breakfast Show.

It also continued to be a popular spot for buying a Lottery ticket or a scratchcard, as one lucky winner of £300,000 found in 2017.

Responding to the news, several social media users commented on how much they would miss the “Ballymena institution”, with one resident referring to it as the “end of an era”.

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