Feb 14, 2017
White Company to supersize presence at key Bluewater mall this spring
Feb 14, 2017
The White Company said Tuesday that it will upsize its existing store at the giant Bluewater mall in Kent with the new location to be more than double its current size. The larger store will open this spring.
Bluewater operator Land Securities said the company will open a 5,881 sq ft statement store on the mall’s lower Guildhall, adjacent to Hobbs, Russell & Bromley and the recently opened Michael Kors. The retailer is currently upstairs, close to the Apple and Radley stores.
The new store has been designed by an in-house team and evolves The White Company’s classic look, “with the emphasis on creating a calm and inviting retail experience,” the company said.
It will include the brand’s complete range of lifestyle products, from womenswear and accessories, to homewares, beauty and The Little White Company’s childrenswear.
Sarah King, director of property at the retailer, said that Bluewater has long been a top-performing location for the firm and that the new “bespoke space” allows it to better sum up the brand as a whole.
Describing the new site as a “statement store”, Land Securities’ portfolio director
Russell Loveland said the company has seen “sustained demand from leading retailers” to create such stores.
On its opening in spring 1999, Bluewater was Europe’s largest mall and it remains a key location with a strong catchment area from Greater London and Kent, despite the subsequent opening of Westfield’s two London malls in recent years.
It saw a strong Christmas season performance with average retail spend per visit reaching £191, according to CACI data. Despite overall figures showing shopping mall have been the biggest sufferers from a UK shopper footfall decline, that Christmas spend at Bluewater was the highest level recorded by any retail and leisure destination in the UK in CACI’s Shopper Dimensions benchmarks.
Land Securities also recently announced that Missguided is making its first move outside London at Bluewater, with the launch of a 16,000 sq ft statement store on the lower Rose Gallery this spring.
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