Fashion brand signs third store lease as it transitions to multi-channel retailer
Wilmslow-based online women’s fashion brand, Sosandar, has signed a lease for its third bricks and mortar store.
The brand, which began life as an online business, is expanding into a store portfolio and has sealed a deal for a site in the Metrocentre, near Newcastle.
The store is expected to open in October in time for the key Christmas trading period and will follow the opening of Sosandar’s first two stores in Chelmsford and Marlow in September.
Metrocentre is a top five UK super regional mall, located in Gateshead, outside Newcastle.
It was visited by 14.4 million people in 2023, an increase on the prior year. Sosandar’s store will sit in the heart of Metrocentre’s Platinum Mall, which is home to higher-end and designer stores, alongside other highly regarded brands such as Jo Malone, Harrods’ H Beauty, and Hobbs.
This is the third store that Sosandar has signed this calendar year, with a number of others in the latter stages of legal processes and further prospective stores across a broader set of locations identified and under review.
Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Sosandar co-CEOs, said: “We are pleased to announce the third location for our Sosandar stores.
“We have a strict criteria of opening stores in top tier, thriving locations where Sosandar customers over-index, and Metrocentre ticks all these boxes.
“Metrocentre has a reputation for hosting a versatile range of fashion retailers and we look forward to the official opening of our store in the coming months.”
Last month the business published annual results, to March 31, 2024, which revealed total sales of £46.277m against £42.451m the previous year, while a pre-tax loss of £332,000 was compared with a pre-tax profit of £1.597m.
In an April trading update this year, Sosandar forecast turnover of £46.8m and a £200,000 pre-tax loss, following a profitable second half.
It hailed a “substantial positive swing” from an £800,000 pre-tax loss in Q1 FY24 to a £200,000 pre-tax loss in Q1 FY25.
Current market expectations for 2025 are revenue of £54.6m and profit before tax of £1m.
