HIS & HERS IS TRYING HARD NOT TO OBSESSIVELY FOLLOW DEVELOPMENTS WITH LIVERPOOL’S NEW SHOPPING PARK, WHICH WILL OPEN IN OCTOBER. WE HAVE A MAGAZINE TO PRODUCE AND THINGS TO WRITE, WE TELL OURSELVES, IN A BID TO STOP GOOGLING THE £100M DEVELOPMENT INCESSANTLY. HOWEVER, WITH THE NEWS THAT SIX NEW HIGH STREET GIANTS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED, WE’RE FEELING FREE TO DOWN TOOLS AND FOCUS ON THIS BREAKING SHOPPING NEWS FOR A WHILE!
M&S Foodhall (11,024 sq ft), Boots (10,005 sq ft), JD Sports (5,484 sq ft) and Outfit (10,031 sq ft) will be the first big brand retailers to open their doors while Hollywood Bowl and a 156-seater Chiquito Restaurant Mexican Bar & Grill will join the park’s leisure line-up.
The four newly-signed retailers will take space in the Western Quarter – a distinct horseshoe of 17 retail units totalling 105,598 sq ft, which makes up the first phase of the scheme and fronts on to Edge Lane.
Chiquito will occupy a plot at the entrance to Liverpool Shopping Park, next to the new Frankie & Benny’s restaurant which was announced earlier this year. The 24-lane Hollywood Bowl is set to open in Summer 2018. The new lettings follow hot on the heels of completion of the new 49,000 sq ft flagship B&Q, which opened earlier this month.
David Lyons, chief executive of The Derwent Group said: “From the outset we’ve said that the success of Liverpool Shopping Park is dependent on the strength of the retail and leisure tenant mix and we have been working hard to get the balance right and these deals over the line.
“Liverpool Shopping Park will be one of the UK’s biggest shopping schemes once complete and we’re thrilled that the first wave of lettings is so strong. With the likes of M&S Foodhall, Boots and Hollywood Bowl, shoppers and leisure customers can now get a real sense of what Liverpool Shopping Park will be all about. We’re in final negotiations with a number of other retail and leisure operators and expect to announce additional lettings imminently.”
Pete Swallow, Regional Manager for Merseyside and Cheshire at M&S said: “Our new store will provide customers in Merseyside with the very best of M&S food and drink. We look forward to unveiling more details of our new M&S store at Liverpool Shopping Park soon.”
Liverpool Shopping Park will total 727,000 sq ft (including mezzanine floors) of retail space once complete and includes parking for 1500 cars and a significant leisure offer. Expected to create more than 3000 jobs and provide much needed local regeneration, Liverpool Shopping Park is breathing new life into the former Edge Lane Retail Park site and surrounding area. Liverpool Shopping Park is expected to open in October 2017.
McMullen Wilson, Petch & Co and CSP Curson Sowerby are the acting retail and leisure agents.