The two Welsh female entrepreneurs and partners behind the Tiger brand in Wales have opened a fourth store in the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) Cardiff. The ground floor sales unit is part of the hospital’s Retail Concourse and Tiger joins adjacent retailers including W H Smith, Starbucks, Boots, Nat West, the Post Office, Stock Shop and Original Food Company. Cooke & Arkwright acted for the landlord, Gentian in the deal.
Kate Methuen-Ley and Helen Corsi opened their first Tiger store in Cardiff’s St David’s Centre in December 2013 and were turning over £1.5m within a year. Stores quickly followed in Cwmbran and Carmarthen, and they have a five year plan to open around 12 stores in Wales and the South West of England. They are looking at sites from Aberystwyth to Swansea and Newport, and in the south-west from Bristol and Bath to Plymouth. The colourful Nordic homeware retailer sells an array of rainbow coloured and stylish Scandinavian home accessories from kitchenware and spices to toys and stationery, with 80% priced at £5 or less.
Mrs Methuen-Ley said, “Tiger has been very well-received in Wales and we are both excited and confident about opening more stores. The hospital location is a slightly unusual one, and already it is doing very well. Similar sized stores were opened in Copenhagen Airport and a railway station in Sweden, both of which were extremely successful. UHW has over 1,000 beds and 7,000 staff with all the associated visitors, and our mantra at Tiger – to ‘make a good day’ – is a positive message to brighten up people’s lives.”
Ms Corsi added, “Kate and I have a 50/50 partnership with Tiger’s parent brand, Zebra, which provides us with the concept and infrastructure, while we provide the local and operational expertise. This works really well for us and we can shape our business our way. There is a new campaign every month so the product is constantly refreshing with well designed, good quality items. Kate and I get very excited each time a colourful new range arrives – we find it hard to resist!”
Ian Newbury of Cooke & Arkwright said, “Attracting a very good use like Tiger to occupy the unit is an excellent result for Gentian and for the hospital’s retail offering. It’s extremely convenient for staff, patients and visitors and we are sure it will prove as popular as the other Welsh Tiger stores.”
Gentian develops, owns, manages and advises on retail facilities within NHS hospitals across the UK. It funded the development of the main entrance to UHW in 1998 and shares revenues above a certain threshold resulting in payments to the Trust. Estates Manager Jessie Miller said, “We are delighted to welcome Tiger to the Retail Concourse at UHW which adds to the diversity of existing retail offering.”
Tiger looks set to become as well known on the high street as other Danish brands such as H&M and Jack & Jones. It now has more than 400 stores in 25 countries and employs its own product designers. It came to the UK in 2005 and there are four established joint venture partnerships covering specific regions, with Tiger Cardiff Ltd having the agreement to establish and manage the concept in South Wales and the South West of England.