WITH over 3,000 stores across the UK, the Premier brand has established its local community shops as some of the best in the business of retail.
Premier stores pride themselves as being at the heart of the community, famous for service, range and value.
All Premier stores are locally owned by independent retailers and the store on the Pembroke Loop Road in Poleglass is no different.
The store is owned by Frank Denny who has traded in the area for 20 years with the new store born after a fire destroyed the entire building complex in 2013.
Frank explained: “We were actually one of the first Premier stores in the North. The brand is now well-established across the UK with a number of stores across Belfast.
“We had a fire back in 2013 in the other shop which was a couple of yards up the street. The whole building was destroyed. The whole area was a bit run down.
“The fire meant this side of Poleglass found itself with no shop and no chippy.
“I bought the whole building and commercial units in it and within six weeks, we were able to get the shop opened again.
“There is great community spirit up here and they all got behind me. It moved me to get going again.
“The place has really gone from strength to strength.
“We eventually got an off-sales which was great. We have a lot of disabled people in the local area and it was the driving force that really spared me to get it over the line.
“The shop has very much a local feel to it. 99% of the people coming in every day, I would know them. It is a drop-in centre as much as anything else, when people come in they will get a smile and a bit of a yarn.”
As well as an off-sales, Premier boasts a range of services to customers and is on the way to becoming a full one-stop shop for the community.
“We have a chippy beside us, Colin Grill Chippy, which takes care of the fast food but we do sausage rolls in the morning and fresh sandwiches and wraps every day,” added Frank.
“We are working towards making it a full one-stop shop so that people can come in and do a full shopping. We are about 90% there at the minute.
“We have PayPoint which allows customers to pay their electric, TV license, rates, etc as well as Lotto, ATM machine, household essentials and all your usual local shop produce.
“I think our community spirit sets us apart from the rest. We are also very much a budget shop, with plenty of promotions in-store. You can get a good bag of groceries here for a fiver.
“We also have a big emphasis on healthy eating. We have a new high fibre sourdough bread and also a full gluten-free range.
“We always push healthy items for kids such as bargain foods and fruit such as apples and bananas at a cheap price. We recently had a bag of apples for just 20p which was very well received with customers.”
In such testing times with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Premier also has full guidelines in place to keep both customers and staff safe in-store. Measures include so many people allowed in the shop at one time, social distancing, screens, hand sanitizer and wipes and signs encouraging people to wear a face covering.
There is plenty to like about Premier in Poleglass – call in today at Pembrook Loop Road for amazing quality and value or a smile to brighten up your day!
