Bargain supermarket to open first ever pub with cosy booths and takeaway booze

A BARGAIN supermarket will open its first ever pub with cosy booths and takeaway booze.

Lidl has won a legal battle to open a bar within one of its stores in Northern Ireland.

In 2020, the German discounter secured planning permission to build a tap room on the site of its shop in Dundonald, a few miles outside of Belfast.

Commenting at the time, a Lidl spokesperson told The Sun the concept would offer shoppers "an off-licence service along with a public house".

Now the plan has been confirmed following a court hearing this week.

It was reported previously that the pub would have a separate entrance to the supermarket and feature a seating area with booths for customers to sit and enjoy a drink.

The scheme would require the supermarket to spend £410,000 and reach an agreement with the owners of a local pub to surrender their license.

Laws in Northern Ireland mean that no new alcohol licenses can be granted unless another one is given up.

A few years prior to this, Lidl applied for permission to run just an off-license, but this was rejected, according to a report in

However, Lidl's plans to open the boozer faced objection from Philip Russell Ltd, who run a number of carry-outs across Northern Ireland.

They tried to argue that Lidl was just trying to open a pub to find a new way to run an off license after its initial plans were rejected some years ago.

These claims, alongside others, were shot down in court this week, with the judge ruling in the supermarket's favour.

Mr Justice Colton said: "I accept that it has concluded that the public house will be profitable, knowing that if it closed through lack of profitability an evitable consequence would be that the off-licence permission would lapse following any such decision.

"I am satisfied that it meets the statutory requirements and there is no good reason for refusing the application."

The cut-price supermarket is yet to reveal how much they will charge for the booze or what kind of alcohol they would stock.

It is also unclear if the supermarket would bring the format to the rest of the UK if successful.

The Sun has contacted Lidl for comment.

HAVE ANY OTHER SUPERMARKETS OPENED PUBS?

Lidl is not the first supermarket to foray into the pub world.

Tesco temporarily opened a pub in London to celebrate the King's Coronation back in May 2023.

It was located in Farringdon and sold Coronation themed food alongside drinks.

However, it was just a pop-up and closed after two days.

Back in 2019, Sainsbury's also opened a low alcohol pub in London for just one day.

It was located on New Oxford Street and everything on offer has to be entirely non-alcoholic or have an ABV of just 0.5%.

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