Parkgate Shopping (one of the UK’s top 10 retail parks, located North-East of Rotherham Town Centre), bought by clients of BMO Real Estate Partners in August 2015 is set for significant change in the coming year with the further injection of over £5 million of capital investment.
Parkgate Shopping will welcome the arrival of a brand new Primark store, a relocation from Rotherham’s High Street, with works commencing by the Landlord next week. Sitting alongside M&S and Curry’s/PC World, the new Primark store will occupy 33,100 sq ft of retail space over 2 levels and will create over 40 new jobs, bringing the total number of employees to 107.
The design of the new store will build on Primark’s latest contemporary shop fit and will include a new double-height glazed frontage and with signage zones and an extension to the mezzanine trading level. Primark has been the No. 1 named retailer that Parkgate Shopping customers would like to see introduced for a number of years.
In addition to this investment, the Landlord is already on site with the construction of a new Costa Coffee drive-thru in the car park outside Wilko’s and Pets at Home and this is due to open in July.
Further capital is being invested in the old Brantano unit to accommodate Holland & Barrett and Shoezone to Parkgate Shopping and these works are nearing completion on site. These sub-division works include the replacement of the outdated frontages with modern, double-height glazed frontages, new signage zones and improvements to pedestrian access to these units whilst opening up sightlines.
During 2016, Parkgate Shopping received its first tranche of investment from its new owners, starting with an image makeover and the introduction of new Parkgate Shopping branding. This new branding can be seen on the replacement signage across the Park, together with a new double decker shopper bus and re-designed website/social media. Everything about Parkgate Shopping is now aimed at our shoppers’ interaction with our retailers, making their shopping journey as enjoyable as possible, no matter what the time of year or purpose of their trip. Further changes to pedestrian and traffic movements are planned over the coming year.
Zvi Noé, Director of Investments at BMO Real Estate Partners, said: “Since the purchase of Parkgate Shopping, we have been looking at ways of improving what it has to offer our customers. We are extremely excited to be welcoming a brand new Primark store. As one of the most desirable retailers in the UK, attracting a store of this size to Parkgate Shopping underlines the improvements we continue to make.
Carolyn Sparshott, Asset Manager – Out of Town Retail at BMO Real Estate Partners, said: “We are passionate about Parkgate Shopping and ensuring it remains something that our local/loyal shoppers can be proud of. The arrival of Primark continues the success in bringing top retailers to Parkgate Shopping. This follows on from the redevelopment project for Nando’s and Subway, and continues the improvements to the retailer line-up (H&M, Card Factory and The Works) which were made during 2015/2016. With the arrival of Primark, Holland & Barrett, Shoezone and a new Costa Coffee Drive-thru in the next year, Parkgate Shopping continues to evolve and provide our shoppers with a first-class experience.
Parkgate Shopping, which attracts nearly 10 million customers a year, consists of 565,000 sq. ft of prime retail and restaurant space on a 40.6 acre site. In total, the site provides accommodation for 45 retailers and 2,250 free parking spaces.
The shopping park caters for an extensive catchment area, containing approximately 1.5 million people. On top of successful anchor brand names such as M&S, Morrison’s, Next, Boots, Matalan and Wilko’s, there is also strong demand from other retailers seeking representation.
