Plans for new Sainsbury’s store in Omagh take a big step forward

SUPERMARKET giant, Sainsbury’s, are now officially seeking planning approval for the construction of a new store on the Great Northern Retail Park in Omagh.

The firm submitted the application this week, and are seeking to convert the former House Proud Furniture and Homebase stores for the sale of convenience and all comparison foods at Units 4 and 5 on the site.

Sainsbury’s has said that it will be holding an in-person drop-in event to highlight its plans at the former Homebase store on Wednesday July 23 next between 2pm and 7pm.

This will allow interested parties to view display boards for the proposal and provide feedback.

There will also be a neighbourhood information drop to residents and businesses in a 200-metre radius of the proposal.

The leaflet will include information on the drop-in event at the existing Homebase store and details of the point of contact within the Technical Team to ask questions, or to provide feedback on the proposal.

Encouraging people to attend, West Tyrone MP Órfhlaith Begley said the opening of the new Sainsburys store would be a welcome boost for the local economy and job creation.

“I welcome that the company have committed to giving an interview to all former Omagh Homebase employees and I have further asked them to commit to retraining and reskilling workers to ensure employment with Sainsbury’s,” she said.

“I encourage the local community to take part in the consultation event, to view the proposal and have their say by providing necessary feedback.”

The development, which was first revealed in September 2024, comes as Sainsburys finalised a deal to acquite ten leasehold stores from Homebase, including its one in Omagh.

The investment, amounting to approximately £130 million across the north, is projected to create around 1000 additional jobs across the newly acquitred sites.

Sainsbury’s chief executive, 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 bestcombination of value andquality in the market, and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitos and driving consistent growth in volume market share,”

The application was submitted on Monday to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council. However, at the moment, it does not address concerns whichbhave arisen over traffic management at the busy Great Northern Road junction.