Asda, the British supermarket unit of Wal-Mart Stores, is to create 485 new jobs in Northern Ireland with the opening of three new outlets.
The supermarket said 110 jobs will be created at a new outlet in Belfast which it due to open this week. The company also intends to open stores in Eniskillen and Strabane which will lead to a further 275 jobs.
Yesterday the company announced it was accelerating supermarket openings and expansion into non-food business with 28 new stores and 8,000 new jobs in the UK.
Asda chief executive Andy Bond said Britain's second-largest supermarket chain would open 18 new stores this year and at least 10 of its "Asda Living" home furnishing centres at a cost of £700 million.
"Asda Living is a fantastic opportunity for us," Mr Bond told a news presentation, explaining goods sold in its home furnishing store were 40 per cent cheaper than similar items sold by rivals.
Asda's bullish expansion plans come a day after Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, revealed its British business staged a "turnabout" last year after nearly losing its second-place spot to J. Sainsbury a year ago.
Yet analysts remained cautious, noting Wal-Mart had said Asda's yearly like-for-like sales grew in the low single digits percentage, excluding fuel - a pace seen slower than Tesco, Sainsbury and number four retailer WM Morrison Supermarkets.
Tesco's market share is double that of Asda, and analysts said its best chance of catching up was not through organic store expansion but by taking over Sainsbury, which is currently the subject of private equity interest.