John Lewis to anchor new Edinburgh development

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Nov 17, 2015

Edinburgh's St James development will be anchored by UK department store retailer John Lewis, it has been announced.

The 1.7m sqft. development is one of the largest regeneration projects currently underway in the UK and will have up to 85 shops and 30 catering units. The John Lewis anchor store will be the retailer's regional flagship for Scotland.

John Lewis currently has a shop in the 1970's shopping centre in the same space, which will remain open throughout work on the new scheme. The retailer will then operate a fully refurbished department store as part of the finished St James development.

Martin Perry, Director of Development at TH Real Estate, said: "The signing of the John Lewis deal is an important milestone and we are delighted that they will anchor the scheme, in addition to remaining open for business throughout construction. It has always been our ambition to deliver a world class destination for Scotland and this important piece of the jigsaw brings us ever closer to starting on site in spring next year."

Jeremy Collins, Property Director at John Lewis, added: "We’re delighted to have reached agreement with TH Real Estate for these exciting development proposals at the St James Centre. John Lewis prides itself on providing an excellent shopping experience to its customers, and we will continue to work closely with the developers to ensure that disruption to our shop is minimised where possible as work progresses. We look forward to our shop's full refurbishment being part of Edinburgh’s improved retail experience."

The new development will move Edinburgh further up the UK retail rankings, from 13th to eighth.