Retailer gets clearance to double up in Derby

A family fashion retailer in Derby’s St Peters Quarter has marked its six-month anniversary with the announcement of plans to double the size of its store.

Pep & Co opened in August specialising in value ranges of clothes for men, women and children and homewares on the 4,000 sq ft ground floor of the former Next store in Albion Street.

Store manager Andy Cheetham confirmed today that the first floor of the building will be opened on March 22nd, initially as a clearance department. This will create one new sales assistant job in addition to the ten staff already employed.

He explained: “Pep & Co was launched last July and we now have 50 stores across the UK including in St Peters Quarter.

“Our mission is to bring value retail back onto the high street to encourage regeneration of towns and cities where we operate.

“The clearance department is a new venture for us and will sell items from across all our stores.

“We are delighted with the success of the store here in Albion Street and have had a great response from customers.

“A particular bonus for us has been the support of the St Peters Quarter BID which has been invaluable in raising the profile of the store and helping us to become part of the business community in this part of the city centre.

“We were very keen to get involved in the BID from the outset and this has included collecting the money raised from selling 5p carrier bags which will be donated to the Jubilee project at the nearby St Peter’s in the City which supports people facing debt issues.”

Pep & Co will also feature in an ITV documentary which is due to air after Easter.

Andy continued: “Over the past few weeks, the store, myself and the team have been involved in filming for the documentary which is still under wraps. We hope that we will be featured in the series at some stage.”