Meadowhall’s £60m refurbishment attracts string of new signings and upsizes

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 27, 2017

Six power brands have signed up to open upsized stores or launch at Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield as the £60 million refurbishment moves into its next phase.

Primark, Sports Direct, Wilko, Schuh Kids, Timberland and Second Cup have recently signed deals with British Land, joint owner of Meadowhall, totalling over 85,000 sq ft.

Primark is moving into a former BHS site to extend its existing store by 21,000 sq ft. This will create a massive 95,500 sq ft flagship store at the shopping centre. The remainder of the BHS unit will be taken by Sports Direct, which is increasing its presence to 44,000 sq ft. The regional flagships are due to launch this autumn.

Following the success of the Schuh store, a new 2,850 sq ft Schuh Kids specialist store will be opening next door on Meadowhall's High Street in April. The new signing will take the brand’s total presence in the Sheffield mall to 9,000 sq ft.

Also launching in April is a 1,950 sq ft store for outdoor clothing retailer Timberland, while family value homewares and household goods retailer Wilko will move into the former Sports Direct store in early 2018.

The consumer experience will be also upgraded with a new coffee chain. Second Cup is to open one of its first UK flagship coffee shops later this month, a 1,560 sq ft café that will feature the company's latest interior design concept.

These signings coincide with the next stage of Meadowhall's refurbishment.  After completion of The Arcade, work is shifting to Meadowhall's Gallery, High Street and Park Lane, where each mall will be given a different look and feel, using high quality materials, increasing natural light, and improving sightlines.  The £60m refurbishment completes at the end of the year and is the most significant investment in the centre since it opened.

"With the refurbishment gathering pace, more and more brands are seeking to locate their leading stores at Meadowhall.  For many, this means expanding their existing presence, allowing them to stock their full product range and benefit from the placemaking activities British Land brings to all its retail centres,” commented Richard Crowther, asset manager for British Land.

"The chance to create a larger store at Meadowhall was one we could not miss.  We will open our new store at Meadowhall just as British Land completes the bulk of its refurbishment, so the timing could not be better," added Primark group director of property Tom Meager.

British Land has also submitted a planning application to extend the leisure area by a further 330,000 sq ft – a plan that could help increase footfall dramatically. Sheffield City Council is expected to make a decision on the plans in spring 2017.