Tesco confirm plans to open Strabane store by March 2027

TESCO has announced its new £1.4m Tesco Express store in the town will open by March next year.

Councillors on Derry City and Strabane District Council's Planning Committee approved the application for the erection of a 2,422 sq ft retail unit with an associated service yard and car park of 46 spaces last November.

The proposal was submitted by the family behind the Kennedy Centre in Belfast - HJS Developments - with the store to be situated on a vacant site in front of existing retailers Home Bargains, Lynas and Winemark, within the Kennedy Retail Park complex on Melmount Road.

Tesco currently has around 57 stores across Northern Ireland and this will be the supermarket's first-ever store in West Tyrone.

Up to 40 jobs will be created during the construction phase, with a further 20 full-time and part-time positions available once the store is operational.

On Monday, the company outlined its store growth ambitions for 2026 and confirmed the Strabane store will form part of its plan to deliver over 70 more Express stores before March 2027.

The supermarket opened 60 new Express stores in 2025.

Nick Johnson, Tesco Group property director, said: "As one of the UK’s leading retailers, we support jobs and local economies up and down the UK, and as we grow our store network we’re delighted to have the opportunity to serve even more people, in even more communities.

“We are hugely excited about the year ahead and looking forward to meeting our customers where they are with great quality, exceptional value and brilliant customer service."

When it came before councillors last year, a report recommending approval for the proposal stated: "The development proposes to provide a local neighbourhood shop (356 sqm gross/225 sqm net floorspace) selling convenience grocery goods to meet local daily needs of residents of south Strabane."

It added that the "design, scale, layout, orientation and appearance of the development and its associated areas and landscaping would complement the character of the area and surrounding development, particularly in the context of the larger retail site."

A planning officer advised that statutory consultees had "no significant" objections to the proposal and had provided "standard conditions".

Nine objections had been received from six separate postal addresses within the vicinity of the planned store.

These were largely centred on concerns over impacts on vermin, construction noise, traffic, air and light pollution, the water and sewerage network, and market value of nearby residential properties.

Eamonn Loughery, of Inaltus Limited and planning consultant for the applicants, told councillors the development had been "carefully designed to respect its residential neighbours and also compliment the other uses in the surrounding area."

Planning was granted subject to conditions on construction hours, namely no demolition or construction work in connection with development is permitted outside the hours of 8am to 6pm on Mondays to Fridays, 8am to 1pm on Saturdays and that no work is carried out on Sundays or Bank/Public Holidays.

Further conditions also restrict the store's operation hours from 7am to 11am, Monday to Sunday and delivery hours from 8am to 9pm, to protect the amenities of the occupiers of neighbouring properties.