Plymouth's gigantic new Aldi supermarket opens with giveaways
Plymouth’s latest supermarket has opened at the city’s new £19m shopping centre. Aldi has begun welcoming customers to its store at the freshly named Bravo Way, in Derriford.
ParalympicsGB swimming hero Reece Dunn cut the ribbon alongside pupils from St Matthew's CofE Primary School on Thursday morning. The Bravo Way store will be run by Store Manager Ian Ramirez, along with a team of 37 workers.
On the opening morning Mr Dunn gave away complimentary bags of fresh fruit and vegetables from Aldi’s Super 6 range to the first 30 customers. The store contains large chillers and freezers dedicated to fresh, British meat products, a “food to go” section at the front of the store, and an exclusive section full of health and beauty products.
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Customers can also take a walk down the Aisle of Aldi, where they will find Specialbuys available every Thursday and Sunday. During opening week, the store is offering a range of Bluey toys, including a Bluey cash register for £19.99, Bluey keyboard for £12.99 and Bluey figure sets for £9.99.
Mr Ramirez said: “It was lovely to welcome our new customers into the store, and I look forward to meeting more of the community in the coming weeks.”
The German-owned chain now has five stores in Plymouth. The Bravo Way supermarket will open from 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, and from 10am to 4pm on Sunday.
Aldi will soon be joined by M&S, PureGym, Pets Corner, Oggy Oggy and Costa Coffee at what has been until now called the Derriford District Centre, on the site of the former Seaton Barracks.
The M&S Food store, at 14,000sq ft being twice the size of its current Crownhill store, will stock the retailer’s entire food catalogue and open on Wednesday, November 20, at 9am. M&S’ Crownhill foodhall, located opposite, will close the evening before, with staff moving to the new store.
The new store has created 42 jobs, and there will be a 100-strong store team. Inside the M&S Food outlet customers will find a bigger and transformed in-store bakery, serving a selection of pastries and bread, including the retailer’s signature Collection Sourdough, with each loaf taking 30 hours to produce.
As well as a range of fresh fruit and vegetables, sourced from the chain’s 8,000 Select Farm partners including 400 across Devon, customers can browse dedicated flower and wine shops. Dates for the openings of other Bravo Way stores have yet to be confirmed.
After opening Aldi, Mr Dunn delivered an assembly for pupils at St Matthew’s as part of the supermarket’s initiative Get Set to Eat Fresh which has inspired more than 2.5million school children aged between five and 14 years to learn more about the benefits of cooking fresh, healthy food with their families.
To celebrate a partnership between Aldi and ParalympicsGB, the three-time gold medallist focused on the benefits of eating healthy food and the importance of exercise and believing in yourself. He also talked to pupils about his experience of competing as a Paralympian at Tokyo 2020 and about his challenging training regime.
Aldi Derriford also offered pupils at St Matthew’s C of E Primary School the opportunity to win a £20 gift voucher to spend at the store. The children were tasked with creating a poster to show what healthy eating means to them.
Mr Dunn said: “IIt was an honour to officially open the store and welcome customers inside for the first time. And it was great to speak with the children at St Matthew’s about the importance of eating healthily and how it can be fun to plan and prepare meals as a family. Hopefully I’ve also managed to inspire the pupils to keep active and try different sports.”
Additionally, the new Aldi store is calling on charities and food banks in Plymouth to register with Neighbourly , a community engagement platform that links businesses to charitable organisations in the community. Charities that register will be able to collect surplus food and perishable products, such as fruit, vegetables and baked goods, seven days a week. Any charities in the area that would like to partner with the new Aldi store should email aldi@neighbourly.com.
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