The sign is up now and it's officially official - German budget supermarket Lidl is opening a huge new store - right opposite the city centre Tesco.
Workers got up on a cherry picker this morning to affix the brightly-coloured Lidl sign to the iconic 1930s former cinema building on the corner of Broadmead and Union Street, and the store is due to open in September.
Lidl took over the site in November 2020 when clothing store H&M confirmed it would not be reopening in the midst of the pandemic, but work to convert the store has taken a while since.
Read more: Bristol Broadmead Lidl set to open next month at former H&M
It will be the latest incarnation for the prime site in the heart of Bristol city centre, which was once the grand entrance to the Odeon cinema, that opened in 1938 on part of the old Fry's chocolate factory that covered the whole of that side of Union Street.
The Odeon still operates three screens from much of the rest of the building, but the former entrance hall and stalls were converted into a Mothercare store in the mid-1980s.
A spokesperson for Lidl told Bristol Live they were already hiring people to work in the store, and 40 jobs will be created. "We are very much looking forward to opening our new Lidl supermarket on Union Street, Bristol and are hoping to welcome customers later this summer. Once opened, the store will create around 40 new jobs for the local area and we would like to thank everyone for their continued patience and understanding as we progress our new store.”
Filling a key retail spot in the city centre is good news for Broadmead, which could see the radical transformation of the city centre, if or when The Galleries is demolished and a new residential, shopping and leisure area is built in its place in the next couple of years.
Vivienne Kennedy, head of Broadmead BID, said: “We’re very pleased that Lidl will be opening soon on the corner of Union Street and Nelson Street. We believe it's going to be a great addition to Bristol Shopping Quarter, where the retail offer continues to evolve to meet today’s consumer needs.
“The news has been greeted very positively on our social media channels with people mentioning Lidl favourites they’re looking forward to buying from the new store.”
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