Tesco is launching its brand new store in Onchan on Thursday which is the sixth to open in the island since taking over Shoprite.

The Shoprite store closed on June 15 for the rebrand with the new store opening at midday. The opening was delayed by a few hours because of delays in getting the final bit of stock due to come in on the delayed ferry.

Media IoM managed to get a look round the store at Village walk before it opened and you can view the walk-through video above to see just how smart it looks.

To mark the grand opening on Thursday, Tesco has donated £1,000 to Mannin Cancers Support Group – which raises money to fund diagnostic and staging equipment for prostate cancer on the island.

The store includes products from local Manx suppliers as well a small clothes section offering uniform and seasonal wear.

Store director Andy Sanderson said: ‘We are really happy to be opening our sixth new store and seven in all.

‘We are aware Onchan is a lovely village and customers here have been keen to see it open and want to see a wider range of products.

‘We brough back to school uniforms as customers have told us that’s important. We will do a limited range of essentials and seasonal clothing. But we want to be a food store primarily.

‘Opening a new large store is always exciting and challenging and we hope this new store plays a key role in the local community that have been so welcoming to us.

‘Over the course of the store openings there’ll be around 280 new jobs created and we want to continue to have a positive impact in the local community through Stronger Starts and food donation programmes.’

The store was officially opened by Andy and representatives from Mannin Cancers Support Group.

Kimberley Moughtin, from the charity, said: ‘We are an all-male cancer charity which started about five years ago and we are funding for our Mannin Cancers Macmillan Centre up at Noble’s Hospital which is a £2.2m build and it will be ready next April.

‘We were really shocked when we got the phone call from Tesco and really, really pleased they have chosen us to receive a £1,000 donation for the opening of the Onchan store.’

In October 2023, Shoprite announced it had reached an agreement with Tesco to sell all of its nine supermarkets in the island.

The news brought to an end 51 years of trading for Shoprite which was launched in 1972 by the Nicholson family.

Tesco has been serving customers on the Isle of Man since 2000. The sale means that the number of Tesco stores in the island will eventually be increased to 10, including its existing store in Douglas.