Supermarket giant Asda announced today it is to create 70 jobs with the opening of its first 'food-free' store in Northern Ireland.
The store will be opening early next year at an, as yet, undisclosed location in Belfast.
It will provide the first experience for Northern Ireland shoppers of its 'Living' concept store - a 40,000 sq ft outlet dedicated to non-food items such as the George clothing range, home furnishings, electrical goods, jewellery and general merchandise.
The announcement came on the 1st anniversary of Asda's arrival in Northern Ireland when it opened 13 stores within a two month period.
The company said that in that time it had expanded its workforce by 25 per cent to 2,500, and increased locally sourced produce by 30 per cent so that 14 per cent of everything sold in Northern Ireland came from Northern Ireland.
Mark Pollard, Asda Northern Ireland director, said: "Our investment in Northern Ireland has been so worthwhile - and our development plans for the future are now taking shape."