The 8,300sq ft store has brought 20 new jobs to the region, ranging from management, supervisors, chefs and kitchen staff, to restaurant and retail shop staff.

The store will comprise three main sections, including a food hall stocking a wide selection of speciality foods. These range from the Baxters and Audrey Baxter portfolio of products to local, national and international speciality foods, fresh bread, fresh produce, loose chocolates, confectionery and – in a first for a Baxters store – a patisserie section, which will sell cakes and pastries from Kelso-based Border Meringues.

Other Borders products on sale will include Roxburgh Roondie from Standhill Cheese in Hawick, ice-cream from Over Langshaw Farmhouse Ice-Cream near Galashiels, deli meats, pies, pastramis and smoked cheese from Hardiesmill of Kelso, and organic eggs from Borders Eggs in Hutton.

Baxters at Selkirk will also feature produce from Orchard Farm Dairy of Hawick, Shona Grieve Bakery, Selkirk, Oleifera oils, from Coldstream, Dalgetty & Sons of Galashiels, Lindsay Grieve butcher of Hawick and Halliwells Butcher in Selkirk.

The Baxters store management is also in negotiations with a number of additional Borders suppliers.

Baxters Selkirk will be managed by Teresa Tierney, who lives in Hawick.

She said: “When we announced our plans for our new store last year, we pledged to champion local produce within our product lines and we believe we’ve managed to source some of the region’s most exciting speciality foods.

“We’re delighted with our new store and restaurant which provide a contemporary leisure shopping experience with an exciting range of products ranging from food and drink to books, gifts and cookware.

“We’re greatly looking forward to welcoming our first customers in-store this week.”

Baxters’ new food hall will also sell a range of speciality wines, whiskies and beers, and a Baxters hamper section, and elsewhere in the store the non-food section will feature a speciality cookshop, bookshop and a gift shop which will also stock the Peebleshire-produced Kerrbally Organic skincare range.

A 110-seater Signature Restaurant will serve delicious breakfasts, morning coffee, lunch, afternoon teas and deli-platters on a self-service basis during store opening hours, with table service introduced when the restaurant serves its high tea and evening meal menus later in the year.

The head chef is Gerard Boylan from Selkirk who has experience at some of the country’s top hotel restaurants.

The Selkirk store will be Baxters’ fifth retail operation. The company already operates stores in Fochabers, Blackford Perthshire, Kathellan in Fife and Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh.

Baxters Selkirk will be open seven days from 9am until 5.30pm.