West Belfast Independent Sells To Sainsbury's - But Continues As 'Landlord'

It is the beginning of the end of an era with news that national supermarket giant, Sainsbury's has concluded a deal with local independent retailer Curley's to acquire two stores in west Belfast and Dungannon.

With plans by the Kennedy family - who established and ran the food retailer since its original inception in 1969 as a small fruit and vegetable outlet – already well advanced, the lure of expansion for the GB-based 'quality' food retailer Sainsbury's to expand has proved irresistible.

However, while Sainsbury's multi-million pound deal includes Curley's stores in Belfast and Dungannon and its petrol stations, the family isn't pulling out.

The Kennedy family will retain ownership of both the Belfast Kennedy Centre and Dungannon's Oaks Centre with significant ongoing investment planned for both complexes and resultant additional employment opportunities.

In addition, the Kennedy family will continue to own and operate 11 off-licenses throughout Northern Ireland trading as Curley's.

Curley's Managing Director Hugh Kennedy said: "The Kennedy family has successfully traded in west Belfast for 38 years and for over 22 years in Dungannon with the well established Curley's brand highly regarded for its quality and service.

"The excellent reputation of our supermarkets has attracted interest from a variety of potential purchasers over the years and in our view Sainsbury's provides the most appropriate offer."

The Dungannon store will be re-branded in the coming weeks while Curley's will continue to trade in the Andersonstown Road location while a comprehensive overhaul of the Kennedy Shopping Centre takes place.

The Kennedy family had already advanced plans for a further extension of the main Curley's at Kennedy Shopping Centre in west Belfast in late spring/early summer this year and the main contractors were supposed to be on site from September to build a new supermarket for anchor store Curley's as well as a number of new retail units as well as an underground car parking facility and a petrol forecourt.

Ken McMeikan Sainsbury's Director of Retail welcomed the deal and said that the move to acquire two new outlets in Northern Ireland was an indication of Sainsbury's ambitious plans for the region.

He confirmed that all employees will be retained at both stores and it is anticipated that in the revamped Andersonstown store an additional 200 jobs will be created bringing the total number of jobs to 450 in Belfast.

Hugh Kennedy began trading with a small fruit and vegetable shop known as Glen Food Fair on the Glen Road, Belfast at the very start of the Troubles - which devastated much of west Belfast - in 1969.

Despite the ongoing street violence and widespread terrorist bombings and shootings this grew to become Curley's mini market and in 1980, Curleys was a thriving, 4,000 sq ft mini-supermarket, until the devastation of a fire in July 1981.

Determined to keep trading, the owner's promptly took possession of a group of nearby cottages, then purchased a vacant Lucozade factory on a derelict site and stoically traded on.

This site was redeveloped in 1991 to build the Kennedy Centre comprising 30 retail units, a five-screen cinema, and Curley’s new supermarket.

Turnover is now £52m, with recorded profits in excess of £1.5m.

(BMcC)