River Island to open flagship store at The Broadway
FASHION retailer River Island is the latest high street name to confirm it is to open a flagship store at The Broadway shopping centre in Bradford.
The news follows the announcement last month by Australian shopping centre developer and investor Westfield that work was to finally get underway at the stalled Broadway development in the city centre.
The new larger River Island store at 12,000 sq ft will benefit from the modern retail offering at The Broadway centre including double-height frontages and will feature the latest interior design.
River Island joins a retail cast of the UK’s leading players including Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, Next and WH Smith, all of which have signed to the Broadway development.
Peter Miller, Westfield chief operating officer for UK and Europe, said: “Today’s announcement of River Island confirms that the Broadway shopping centre will be a major fashion destination for Bradford shoppers and the wider region.
“CACI, one of the UK’s leading retail analysts, recently declared Bradford in the top 10 new UK retail opportunities. We are seeing increasing confidence in Bradford from retailers and The Broadway development has now over 50% floor space committed.
“In the last month we have seen strong retailer momentum and have started the essential early site preparation works. We are now in the final stages of pre-lets to facilitate the start of construction by the end of 2013.”
A River Island spokesperson said: “We are very pleased to open a larger River Island store in the Broadway shopping centre. River Island will now have stores in all Westfield shopping centres in the UK.”
Coun David Green, Leader of Bradford Council said: “This is another significant step forward. Major retailers are continuing to show their strong confidence in Bradford city centre and its potential to become the shopping destination for local people and the wider area. The Broadway shopping centre development will provide jobs and support our local economy, creating opportunities to benefit local businesses in the construction phase as well as when the centre is open and significantly increasing footfall in the city.”
The Broadway scheme has a weighted annual spend potential of £623m, which is forecast to grow by more than £250m on completion of the Broadway development.
