North-east Primark store to undergo major expansion as part of £100m investment plan

A major expansion of a North-east Primark store will take place as part of a £100m investment plan.

The two-storey store at the Metrocentre, in Gateshead, will expand to almost 80,000sq ft of shopping space once it is unveiled later this year. Last month, Teesside Live also reported how new Primark signs have gone up as work continues on the new Teesside Park store.

Plans for the new store in the former Mothercare unit were approved in December 2022 after the building was stood empty for five years. The chain will occupy 37,000sq ft of retail space and create 140 jobs for the area.

The fashion and home retailer said the expansion of the Metrocentre store, which is an hour from Middlesbrough and popular with Teessiders, firms plans to plough the nine figure sum into a number of refits over the next 12 months as it marks 50 years on UK high streets, Chronicle Live reports.

The retailer said the whole investment will also create over 700 new jobs. At the Metrocentre store a further 14,100 sq ft of trading space is being added, and the property’s managers welcomed Primark’s commitment to the region’s largest shopping complex.

Primark first joined Metrocentre nearly 20 years ago, before relocating into its current site at Exhibition Square, a key junction where Yellow, Blue, and Platinum Malls meet, in 2010. The works to extend into the adjacent unit on the ground floor are currently under way, with an expected opening date to be confirmed for later this summer.

Primark is set to open this summer at Teesside Park

Ben Cox, senior asset manager at Sovereign Centros, said: “2024 has started just how 2023 finished – with major retailers committing to new, enhanced space at Metrocentre. Similar to Zara and Frasers Group, Primark is the next powerhouse brand to make the decision to expand its presence here, made possible by decades of strong performance. Delivering this now is a direct response to what our visitors want from Metrocentre, as we continue to deliver best-in-class flagships from some of the UK’s best-loved brands.”

Conor Walsh, director of sales UK, South West and North East for Primark, added: “We are excited to be extending our popular Gateshead Metrocentre store to give our customers more of what they love from Primark, which means great value with an enhanced shopping experience and extended product offer. We can’t wait for our customers to see the extended selling space, giving them even more reasons to visit.”

Primark’s UK investment programme includes three new shops, three relocations and two significant extensions. It will also begin refurbishment of 15 sites as part of its ongoing refit programme to reduce its carbon footprint across its property estate. New stores include Bury St. Edmunds on March 6, followed by Teesside Park and Glasgow Fort later in the year.

Primark UK retail director Kari Rodgers said: “We’ve changed a lot in the 50 years since we opened the doors on our first store in Great Britain in Derby back in 1974, but at our heart, we are still the same. We’re as committed as ever to offering the very best value on the high street and making great fashion more affordable and accessible for everyone.

“This latest investment will mean bigger and better stores, hundreds of new jobs across the country and shows our ongoing commitment to the UK high street.”

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