Next and New Look to expand Telford stores
New jobs are to be created after fashion chains Next and New Look agreed to significantly increase the size of their stores in Telford.
The retailers have signed pre-let agreements to move new premises in Telford Shopping Centre, as part of a development that is being called The Fashion Quarter.
Next will expand into a 30,000 sq ft store and New Look into a 16,000 sq ft store, with both shops agreeing new 10-year leases.
Next's move to larger premises will see it create 10 jobs, taking its workforce in the town centre to 60. The shop will be over two floors, with womenswear on the ground floor and menswear and homewares on the first.
The Fashion Quarter will see the redevelopment and extension of New Row and New Street, with House of Fraser remaining its the anchor alongside existing tenants Zara and River Island. It will open in autumn 2018.
A new link to Sherwood Street will also be built, creating new large stores with the aim of attracting more fashion retailers into the centre. It comes as the nearby bus station also undergoes redevelopment.
Discussions with other potential tenants have begun.
Alexandra Pugh, senior leasing & asset manager at Sovereign Centros, which is managing the redevelopment of the centre on behalf of its owners, said: “These are major lettings that reinforce Telford as a powerful regional destination.
"We are in detailed discussions with a host of other retailers, new to the town, which are interested in the space and will be making further announcements in due course.
“Our continued investment in The Telford Centre, including the new Northern and Southern Quarter developments, will further strengthen Telford’s status in the region.”
The fashion quarter is one of three ongoing redevelopment projects, along with the Southern Quarter, which will open in time for Easter, and the Northern Quarter, on the site of the old ASDA.
