The investment in the Railway Road supermarket, which was ASDA's first purpose-built store to open in Northern Ireland in July 2007, will result in an additional 15,000sq ft of floor space, thanks to the extension of the existing mezzanine floor. In direct response to customer feedback, the newly extended upper level will be dedicated to non-food items, offering a much bigger range of George clothing, homeware, the 'entertainment centre', electrical, toys and books in addition to the existing in-store cafe.
On the newly formatted ground floor, broader ranges of all food items will be available for shoppers – including fresh, chilled, and frozen. In addition to extra warehousing the aisles will be wider and the number of checkouts will double in order to deliver an improved shopping experience and the highest levels of customer service.
The development reflects the success of the Strabane supermarket which has consistently been a top performer amongst ASDA's 14-strong Northern Ireland store portfolio. Along with its Enniskillen counterpart it has achieved record-breaking sales figures in key periods, recording over £2million in a single week in the run up to Christmas .
Always popular with shoppers from the Republic of Ireland, ASDA Strabane has continued to attract cross-border customers with Euro-spend accounting for approximately 40% of the store's total sales. This also reflects the on-going value and quality of the range of produce offered by ASDA with customers regularly travelling from the border counties and beyond for their weekly/monthly shop.
"This is another fantastic development for our supermarket and for our many loyal customers," said Eugene Teague, manager of ASDA Strabane. "Since we first opened our doors to the public in October 2005, we've been overwhelmed by the response. Our initial investment in this new store was a landmark for ASDA, and the announcement of this new development is yet another milestone for the local area and for the company as a whole. Despite the impact of the economic recession, we've proved that ASDA delivers the range, value and service that the public wants and this is only set to continue in our bigger, brighter supermarket."
The redevelopment of the store started on Monday and will take around four months to complete. The store will remain open throughout the entire process but to keep disruption to a minimum during this time, 24 hour trading will cease with the store operating from 8am to 10am each day and from 1pm to 6pm on Sundays.