A major supermarket has announced they are opening a pub on the site of one of their stores.
The chain will open a public house attached to a shop in Dundonald in Northern Ireland.
It will be the first of its kind in the UK providing shoppers with the unique opportunity to enjoy a tipple while browsing the booze aisle.
However it was a battle for the store to open its pub after it faced an objection from Philip Russell Ltd, which runs several off-licences across Northern Ireland.
In a new ruling judge Mr Justice Colton rejected the complaints by Philip Russell Ltd.
And now German discount supermarket Lidl can officially open their on site pub.
Lidl originally announced the plan in March 2020 with the idea of offering customers an off license service along with a public house.
In their challenge of the plan, Philip Russell Ltd said Lidl failed to demonstrate there weren’t already shops or pubs in the area that were already selling alcohol, something that Lidl needed to do so it could legally open a new pub/off licence in Northern Ireland.
A major supermarket has announced they are opening a pub in one of their stores (stock image)
The store will be the first of its kind in the UK providing shoppers with the unique opportunity to enjoy a tipple while browsing the booze aisle
Lidl originally announced the plan in March 2020 with the idea of offering customers an off license service along with a public house
It claimed Lidl was also trying to get round Northern Ireland’s tough alcohol licencing laws by branding the location as a pub and an off-licence.
In his rejection of the complaints Mr Colton said: ‘The application was a novel one is not a reason for refusing it.’
It was also ruled as fine to open because of Dundonald’s growing population and closeness to shopping and transport facilities.
Mr Justice Colton continued: ‘It may well be that it will not meet the full demand for licenced premises within the vicinity given its size and lack of food provision.
‘That however does not mean that (Lidl) fails to establish inadequacy.’
He added: ‘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.’
Lidl has said it will cost £410,000 to fit the new pub in the store.
The Lidl store in Dundonald, Northern Ireland, which will open the first pub attached to a UK supermarket
The King in the Castle located on Cowcross Street, just outside Farringdon tube station in central London, was the site of Tesco’s pop-up pub in 2023
Whilst Lidl is the first supermarket to open a pub attached to their stores, Tesco previously opened a pub outside of its food retailers to mark the King’s coronation in 2023.
The King in the Castle located on Cowcross Street, just outside Farringdon tube station in central London, was the site of the pop-up shop on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 May 2023, complete with a coronation-themed menu.
All proceeds went to the supermarket’s charity partner, The Prince’s Trust, which was founded by The King in his former role as The Prince of Wales to support young people across the UK.
MailOnline has approached Lidl for a comment.
