Global Mutual, the specialist real estate co-investor and asset manager, has confirmed a tranche of new lettings across its four Affinity Outlet centres in Staffordshire, Devon, Fleetwood and Sterling Mills, leasing a combined 21, 526 sq. ft. of retail space.
- Affinity Staffordshire has reached 100 percent occupancy following the confirmation of three lettings to clothing and fashion brands, including to classic British brand Jaeger which is taking 1,456 sq. ft., marking its fourth Affinity Outlet location. Luxury and everyday Scottish heritage brand Edinburgh Woollen Mill is also taking a new 3,002 sq. ft. store, with up and coming premium fashion brand Jayley signed for a 1,462 sq. ft store, its third location in the UK.
- At Affinity Lancashire, two established retailers are expanding their presence and offer: Clothing and outdoor brand Regatta/Craghoppers is creating a new 4,100 flagship store, with greeting cards retailer Hallmark increasing their space by 20%, taking a 1,700 sq. ft. unit. Clothing retailer Weird Fish is also joining Affinity Lancashire, taking 1,197 sq. ft.
- Two new letting are confirmed at Affinity Sterling Mills in Scotland, including independent fragrance retailer, The Fragrance Shop, taking 909 sq. ft. and outdoor specialist retailer Regatta/Craghoppers taking 3,700 sq. ft.
- Footwear brand Clarks is joining Affinity Devon, leasing 3,500 sq. ft., while The Fragrance Shop is taking 500 sq. ft. A planning application is also about to be submitted for the development of a new cinema, hotel and restaurants at the Devon centre.
Steven Gray, Director of Retail at Global Mutual, said: “As an active asset manager, these ten new lettings and retailer expansions across the Affinity portfolio reflect our responsive and nimble approach to delivering a model that is responsive to changing occupier demands, while also being focused on delivering strong consumer choice and range.
“Since taking ownership and management of Affinity, our strategy has been to refocus and raise the bar of the retail proposition across all of the centres, including blending value and outlet propositions, and our success is testament to the strength of our long term relationships working with key retail brands. Over the last two years, we have seen 20 new brands signed to Affinity, and have secured a number of repeat relationships with retailers across the portfolio.
“We’ve also seen an overall uplift in visitors across our Affinity portfolio, with our new lettings and expansions bringing our combined occupancy rate to 96 percent. Our understanding of retailers is absolutely key to this success.”
Global Mutual asset manages all four Affinity Outlet centres in the UK on behalf of Karlin Talke Ltd, comprising a combined portfolio of nearly 500,000 sq. ft.