Sainsbury’s is bringing its commitment to provide ‘Good food for all of us’ to the community of Mile End, Colchester with the arrival of its newest convenience store. Colleagues cut the ribbon on the purpose-built Sainsbury’s Local on Friday, making it the first grocery store to begin serving customers from within the new Northern Gateway Development.

Now between 7am and 11pm every day, the new 3,000 sq ft store is part of a new local centre constructed by Sainsbury’s that also includes a Bright Horizons Nursery, which is set to open in 2024.

Sainsbury’s Colchester Via Urbis Romane Local takes its name from the road that passes the development and will feature a carefully curated selection of Sainsbury’s great value, high-quality food and drink, as well as general merchandise. Providing everything from fresh bread and cakes baked daily in-store to delicious fruit and veg, meat, fish and a variety of meal solutions, the new store will bring more convenience and choice to customers in Mile End, however busy their daily lives.

As well as a Costa Coffee machine, customers can to take advantage of a new Click & Collect service in the store, conveniently enabling them to order online from Sainsbury’s much-loved Argos, Habitat and Tu Clothing brands for collection whilst picking up their groceries. Customers can also choose to shop and pay using Sainsbury’s SmartShop app on a mobile device, making the checkout process even easier and more convenient.

Sainsbury’s investment in Colchester has enabled the retailer to create 20 new jobs in-store, and the retailer will help support good causes in the community, for example by redistributing surplus food from the store locally to those who need it most via its partnership with Neighbourly.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s Property Director, said: “We’re passionate about bringing our tasty, well-sourced food within easier reach of our customers wherever we can and it was fantastic to launch our newest Sainsbury’s Local in Colchester on Friday."

"We’re determined to help everyone make the most of their mealtimes and we hope that our new Sainsbury’s store will do just that for all the customers it will serve in the coming years.”

Ellie Connolly, Sainsbury’s Colchester Via Urbis Romanae Store Manager, said: “My team and I are thrilled to be open for business, helping and serving the community in Mile End in our new store after months of work to get it ready for customers."

"We’re all passionate about good food and we’re delighted to be able to bring Sainsbury’s tasty, great value products and helpful service closer to more people in Colchester – thanks to everyone who has supported us along the way.”