We were in town to help Lidl celebrate the 25th anniversary of opening its very first store in Cookstown back in 1999. Since then, it’s opened 40 more stores and taken a significant slice of the retail market here.
The folks from Lidl – effortlessly hospitable as they always are – threw a bit of a party in the unique surroundings of the Ulster Museum, serving up a four-courser of local produce washed down by a few of their exceptional wines.
The CEO of Lidl Ireland, JP Scally, did the honours along with NI Regional Director Ivan Ryan and their hard-working marketing team, while Sarah Travers kept things motoring on stage.
The highlights (apart from the Spanish red wine) were a couple of top-drawer musical performances, an on-stage interview with the excellent Rhys McClenaghan and a brilliant video interspersing Lidl’s 25-year history with what was happening in Northern Ireland over the same period of time….with appropriate sound track. The work of Lidl’s marketing agency, Ardmore, and a cut above the usual video one gets to watch at this kind of gig.
Well done to everyone at Lidl. And the post-red wine headache wasn’t too bad.