The UK’s leading shopping centre operator intu has signed up with Hamleys for a 9,000 sq ft store at intu Lakeside, due to open in spring 2015. The world famous toy brand has an exclusive selection of stores outside its flagship Regent Street location, with four shopping centre stores in the UK, three of which are now located within intu centres, including intu Trafford Centre and St David’s Cardiff.
A spokesperson for Hamleys said: “intu Lakeside with its strong family demographic is a great location for a new Hamleys store. Working closely with intu we have created a store that complements our UK growth strategy, delivering our unique retail experience of fun, theatre and entertainment. The intu Lakeside store will be in a great position and we are sure the impact of an impressive 51 metre frontage right at the gateway of the proposed leisure extension means our store will perform well.”
intu Lakeside, located on the M25 just north of the Dartford river crossing on London’s eastern perimeter, is based in Europe’s largest concentration of retail and leisure and attracts a 25 million annual footfall. The centre’s Acorn profile closely matches that of Hamleys’ toy buying customer profile, making it an ideal location for the toy retailer. Additionally, the Regional Malls Shopper Dimensions 2013 Peak Survey cites intu Lakeside as one of the UK’s top performing malls attracting a higher percentage of shoppers with children than the average regional centre.
Julian Wilkinson, regional director of intu, said: “Hamleys is a great addition to the premium tenant mix at intu Lakeside and substantially improves the centre’s family offer. As an iconic British brand offering quality children’s toys and experiences, the new store will attract more people, from further, for longer and will drive our ambition to create a compelling destination for families who come from near and far.”
To further enhance the centre’s appeal, intu Lakeside is set to extend its leisure offer having obtained securing planning permission for a £100m development. The development will deliver cafés, restaurants and family entertainment venues focussed around a new public square. In addition planning permission for a hotel has also been approved whilst outline planning consent has been obtained for a £180m retail extension, which includes improvements to transport links.
Julian Wilkinson added: “intu’s retail and leisure mix is always carefully considered and designed to complement existing tenants and support future plans in order to provide customers with the perfect shopping experience and enable retailers’ businesses to flourish.”
