Queensberry Real Estate has confirmed a letting to New Look’s standalone menswear store at its £117 million Friars Walk scheme in Newport. The store will be the first New Look Men in Wales and only the sixth to open nationally.
New Look Men will take a 1,808 sq ft store at the 390,000 sq ft retail and leisure destination. The new store will benefit from the huge product improvements New Look has made to its menswear range over the last 12-18 months, with New Look Men being a key priority for the brand.
Stuart Harris, Director and Co-Founder of Queensberry Real Estate said: “It is testament to the success of Friars Walk that we have secured the first New Look Men in Wales. Their revitalised fashion offer will sit well alongside the scheme’s existing brands, many of which have reported strong sales figures since Friars Walk opened on 12 November 2015.”
Five New Look Men stores are already open in the UK since the standalone stores were launched and are performing well.
Roger Wightman, Chief Creative Officer commented: “Menswear is a key strategic priority for New Look and the opening of the menswear standalone stores represents a natural next step for us. We are very proud of the improvements made to our offer over the past two years – the opening of menswear standalone stores will allow us to more fully showcase the enhanced quality of our product ranges. Our new Menswear Director, Christopher Englinde, recently joined us from H&M, and as a business we are very excited about the prospects of future growth.”
Since opening on 12 November 2015, Friars Walk has welcomed record number of visitors with many of the retail, dining and leisure operators smashing their sales targets. Designed by Leslie Jones Architecture, Friars Walk includes a 90,000 sq ft full offer Debenhams Department Store as well as other retail anchors, H&M and Next. Visitors can also enjoy the eight screen Cineworld multiplex cinema and restaurants including Loungers, Nando’s and Le Bistrot Pierre.
The open air shopping centre is fully integrated with the neighbouring Kingsway Centre and the wider retail offer in Newport City Centre. A focal point of the comprehensive programme of regeneration underway in Newport, it is estimated that Friars Walk will double retail sales in the city, adding £120 million per annum. Overall, Newport’s catchment is predicted to increase from 211,000 to 367,000 with an estimated footfall of 10-12 million per annum (Source: Javelin/DTZ).
Friars Walk was made possible by a unique public-private partnership that saw Newport City Council provide Queensberry Real Estate with access to a loan to fund the scheme. It is at the heart of the wider regeneration underway in Newport and has already created 1,200 jobs in the new shops and restaurants worth an estimated £15 million a year in salaries to the local economy. Major employers including Lloyds Bank, Airbus, Admiral Insurance and the Office of National Statistics.
The letting agents for Friars Walk are Lunson Mitchenall, Cooke & Arkwright, Nick Young & Co and CBRE.