THE opening of a sports factory outlet store in Staffordshire has marked the latest stage in a £2.5m revamp of a retail park.
Twenty new jobs have been created at the 8,500 sq ft Nike store on the Freeport Talke outlet centre, near Stoke-on-Trent.
Cheshire-based retail asset manager and property developer Realm has been working on the park for almost a decade and has been revamping the spot which was vacated by the Co-op supermarket around five years ago.
Head of marketing Andrew Duncan told TheBusinessDesk.com: “The Co-op did have a major supermarket but it decided it preferred community stores so left 50,000 sq ft of empty space.
“We are in the process of filling four of the five units which have been created and are in discussions with leading retailers.
“They are built and now we’re waiting for tenants to do their own shop fittings. At one stage, the park did have a lot of empty units. In the history of the centre, the opening of the Nike store is quite a defining moment.”
Major retailers such as Gap and Marks and Spencer have taken units on the park during the past couple of years, bringing the numbers of stores to over 40.
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