Tesco has progressed its plans to relocate its Dunmurry supermarket to the Makro site, just outside Belfast.
The grocery retailer has confirmed the lease on its existing store at the Kingsway Shopping Centre will expire in August 2027.
The Kingsway site has already been bought by a rival retailer, with Lidl thought to be in the frame to expand its presence west of Belfast.
In a bid to retain its market presence in the area, Tesco announced plans last year to convert part of the Makro cash and carry warehouse into a new supermarket.
Makro has been owned by the Booker Group since 2012, which in turn was acquired by Tesco in a £3.7 billion deal in early 2017.
Tesco has now progressed to a full planning application to subdivide the massive cash and carry building to create a new 51,000 sq ft supermarket.
It’s expected to involve an investment of around £10 million and take between 12 and 15 months to complete
Tesco said if work can commence by June 2026, it should be available for trading by August 2027.
However Tesco appear to have dropped the bid to include a new petrol station at the site.
It followed a public consultation exercise conducted earlier this year.
Makro will continue to operate from the same site, albeit in a reconfigured store.
In a report submitted along with its planning application, Tesco said it has no knowledge of the new owner’s plans for its existing premises at the Kingsway Shopping Centre.
But it said any refit or redevelopment works could only take place once it vacates the building in the summer of 2027.
The report states that the £10m development plan for the Makro site could take up to 15 months, with the inference that delays in planning approval could leave Dunmurry residents without a supermarket for a period in late 2027 or early 2028.
Tesco also said planning approval for its new store at the Makro site will also ensure continuity of employment for its Dunmurry workforce.
The retailer currently employs 96 staff at its Dunmurry site, most of them part-time workers.
The larger store at the Makro site is expected to see the staff headcount rise to around 110.
Tesco, which is Northern Ireland’s largest private sector employer, is also progressing plans to expand its Express network in the north, opening new sites in Strabane and Belfast city centre.
The retailer has already lodged plans for the former SS Moore shop on Chichester Street, while the owner of Belfast’s Kennedy Centre has secured permission to develop a new Express store for Tesco in Strabane.
Meanwhile, new analysis published by Worldpanel on Monday suggests Tesco enjoyed a 38.1% share of the north’s grocery market in the year to November 30 2025.
According to the data company, its share grew by 8.1% year-on-year, more than any other multiple.
