The long-mothballed Beales department store is now bustling—invisibly. Inside, the gutting is so thorough that you can peer straight through the empty skeleton of the store to the opposite side, a sign that the rebuild is well underway.
This is part of Sainsbury’s ambitious £20 million transformation of the space into a modern, enlarged supermarket. Once complete, it will double the store’s footprint to approximately 45,000 sq ft, offering a 29% increase in food retail space and a massive leap in non-food offerings—from just 1,300 sq ft to a sprawling 15,000 sq ft.
The project is ingeniously phased to maintain trading continuity. The initial work focuses on converting the Beales section. When that’s ready, Sainsbury’s will pivot operations there overnight, allowing renovations to begin on the original store. The result: a fully unified, reimagined supermarket featuring new Till layouts, smarter entrances, and a bright, open commercial environment.
Exciting additions include an expanded Argos area, a more visible concession space at the front, and a dedicated Smart Charge EV hub with up to six charging points in the rear car park—reflecting Sainsbury’s push for sustainability.
Local leadership sees this as a big moment for Tonbridge. MP Tom Tugendhat called it “a huge vote of confidence in our town,” while council leaders hailed the development as a linchpin of the town centre masterplan, which also includes hundreds of homes, a replacement leisure centre, and improved public spaces
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