Forestside Shopping Centre

Forestside Shopping Centre (better known as Forestside) is located in Newtownbreda in the southern suburbs of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first phase of the centre, the 39,000 square feet (3,600 m2) Sainsbury's store, opened in March 1997. The popularity of the centre has exceeded expectations with traffic congestion a problem in peak trading seasons. Sainsbury's was obliged to pay for extensive roadworks on the A24/A55 junction.

    Forestside Shopping Centre
    Main Forestside entrance, December 2009
    LocationNewtownbreda, Belfast, Northern Ireland
    Coordinates54°33′49″N 5°54′33″W
    Opening date3 April 1997 (Sainsbury's)
    22 September 1998 (Mall)
    DeveloperJ Sainsbury plc
    ManagementLee Cutler
    No. of stores and services36
    No. of anchor tenants3
    Total retail floor area250,000 square feet (23,000 m2)
    No. of floors3 (Underground, Mall floor, M&S, Dunnes Stores, H&M and Next 2nd Floor)
    ParkingFree for the first 4 hours
    Websiteforestside.co.uk

    History
    Forestside viewed from the A24 with Sainsbury's in the foreground and Dunnes Stores in the distance.

    When Sainsbury's announced its move into the Northern Ireland market on 20 June 1995, the Newtownbreda site was one of seven identified for future stores. The site was then occupied by Supermac which, when it opened in 1964, was Northern Ireland's first supermarket.[1] Supermac had planned to redevelop the site itself in a £30 million project, however a company director pointed out that the it would be in the position of being at the peak of its overdraft at the same time as facing competition from Sainsbury's as it opened its first store in Northern Ireland. The Irish Times quotes the director as saying "That was a situation we didn't find particularly acceptable."[1]

    Planning permission for the Sainsbury's store was granted in early February 1996 and construction began with a groundbreaking ceremony a week later.[2] The Sainsbury's store was built on the northern part of the roughly triangular site which was unoccupied as part of the Supermac complex. Sainsbury's first annual report after the store opened in March 1997 noted that the store was "trading far above expectations".

    Sainsbury's paid £1.75 million for an alcohol sales licence for its off-licence in the centre.[3] However this allowed Sainsbury's, with just two off-licences open in Northern Ireland in 1997, to capture 6% of the market.[4] In January 1998 The Grocer reported that sales at the Forestside off-licence were £140,000 a week.[4]

    As the first stage opened work continued on the final stage of the shopping mall, 31 small units and two other large stores occupied by Marks & Spencer and Dunnes Stores. The total floor space of the centre is 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) the southern part of the which stands on the site of the Supermac supermarket. The architects of the centre took advantage of the large east-west gradient of the site to build underground car parking and service access. Sainsbury's opened a petrol filling station at the same time as the supermarket, on the site of the demolished Drumkeen Hotel.

    In October 1997 Sainsbury's announced the forward sale of Forestside to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) for approximately £50m. The sale was completed following completion of building works in September 1998, with Sainsbury's taking a 125-year lease for its store.[5] In January 2001 USS sold the centre to Foyleside Ltd. for £70 million.[6] Foyleside Ltd. owns Foyleside in Derry and the Abbey Centre in Newtownabbey.

    On 26 March 2005 the centre's Next outlet was targeted with an incendiary device which ignited after it had closed.[7] Another device was defused in the centre's Dunnes Stores on 28 March. The campaign, which also included an attack that destroyed a B&Q store at Sprucefield, Co. Down, was blamed on dissident republicans.

    On 23 November 2006 Marks & Spencer announced a £35 million investment in its Northern Ireland business, £8 million of which was invested in its Forestside store.[8] This involved remodelling, the addition of a second floor to add 22,000 sq ft (2,000 m2) and a multi-storey car park.[9]

    In 2012 Game closed its branch in Forestside along with many others across the UK after the company entered administration.

    In 2013 HMV closed its branch in Forestside along with 65 others across the UK after the company entered administration.[10]

    In an article discussing the reform of local government, The Belfast Telegraph described Forestside as a "cash cow" which delivers annual rates of over £4 million to its local authority.[11] In summer 2013 River Island, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Evans all closed. Next expanded into the former River Island Unit. Other new retailers to open included O2 store, Vision Express and Blue Inc.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic pandemic several of the companies owning units such as Warehouse and Oasis (Owned by Aurora Fashions) and Clintons went into administration.[12] The latter unit was purchased by Hallmark cards while the others remain vacant.[13]

    gollark: Idea: steganographically encode data using color variations in pride flags.
    gollark: Incomprehensible colored stripes?
    gollark: We no longer allow anyone who can find the subdomains to control osmarks internet radio™, unfortunately.
    gollark: This is nice music and all those who disagree will [REDACTED] apioform exposure [DATA EXPUNGED] SCP-3125 [DATA EXPUNGEMENT REACTED] unknown reaction to [REDACTED].
    gollark: Thus, osmarks internet radio™.

    References
    1. O'Kane, Paul (21 June 1995). "Sainsbury's to invest £100m in 7 new outlets in North". Irish Times. p. 16.
    2. Morton, Robin (20 February 1996). "The great supermarket sweep". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast Telegraph Newspapers.
    3. "Sainsbury's pay record (GBP) 1.75 m". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd. 18 February 1998.
    4. "Two off licences, but 6% of NI's drinks market". The Grocer. William Reed Publishing Ltd. 31 January 1998. p. 7.
    5. Morton, Robin (15 September 1998). "Forestside: a new era". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd.
    6. McGurk, Helen (20 October 2001). "Retail Park Changes Hands for £50m". News Letter. Century Newspapers Limited. p. 23.
    7. "Device ignites in shopping centre". BBC News. 27 March 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
    8. "McLaughlin & Harvey: Projects". McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
    9. "Marks & Spencer Announces Multi-Million Pound Investment in Northern Ireland" (Press release). Marks & Spencer plc. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
    10. "109 jobs on line as nine HMV stores close across NI". BBC News. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
    11. McAdam, Noel (2 May 2013). "New-look council boundaries for Northern Ireland: how 26 will go into 11 in carve-up". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
    12. Butler, Sarah (30 April 2020). "Oasis and Warehouse to close permanently, with loss of 1,800 jobs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
    13. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
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