SAINSBURY’S in Tadley will be closing its doors for eight days next week and reopening with a completely new look.

The store in Mulfords Hill will be closed between Tuesday, November 16 and Wednesday, November 24 while final alterations are made inside as part of its major overhaul and expansion.

Once reopened, it will boast a range of new features.

Julian Pestell, deputy manager at the store, said: “We’ve been able to keep the store open for most of the time that we’ve been making improvements but this is going to be the final push.

“It’s going to be all systems go when we close the store, but it should look fantastic when we reopen.”

There will be a new home shop, a new pharmacy, a bakery, a meat counter and a pizza bar in the renovated store.

It will also boast more tills, new self-service tills, an electrical section and a new-look café.

The site, which was originally 19,000 sq ft, has now nearly doubled in size to 34,000 sq ft.

Plans are currently being finalised for a re-opening ceremony with employees of the company on November 24.

The renovations include a new mural painted in a staff area by eight students from The Hurst Community College in Baughurst.

The mural forms part of the supermarket’s ‘pride wall’ where achievements of individual staff members and business successes are displayed.

Amanda Bone, store trainer, said: “Every store has a ‘pride wall’. We asked if The Hurst wanted to paint the wall for us to make it look nice.

“They have painted a massive mural to do with Sainsbury’s and fairtrade and there’s a bit about the history. It’s really fantastic.”

Sian Storey, head of art at The Hurst, designed the mural which was then painted in acrylic by the pupils, aged between 12 and 14.

She said: “We selected some of our gifted and talented pupils as an opportunity for them to extend their knowledge and skills. They took a day off timetable and worked from a pencil design that I created.”

She added: “The pupils thought it was great and left feeling really inspired.”