Superdry chooses Intu Potteries for new store

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 10, 2019

Superdry has signed up for space at Intu Potteries, the indoor shopping centre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

In defiance of the UK retail crisis, the British clothing business has taken a 6,000 sq ft unit, where it will showcase its latest clothing and sportswear collection.

Intu Potteries has a 10 million annual footfall, and about 20% of its annual visitors are students given the centre’s location near the Stoke-on-Trent campus of Staffordshire University nearby, as well as Keele University and Stoke-on-Trent College.

“Superdry is going to be a great addition to the centre, providing a much-requested brand for our visitors,” said Nick Round, regional managing director at Intu.

“Intu Potteries’ great location and broad catchment provides brands like Superdry with a great opportunity to thrive.”

But despite Intu’s optimism, its shopping centres have been performing less than great over the past year. According to its latest update, footfall across its UK malls increased slightly by 0.8% in the first half of the year, and although this is better than the UK benchmark (Springboard reported a 2.2% decrease for the same period), the numbers are far from perfect.

Superdry is hoping the shopping centre’s student population will enjoy its Japanese-themeded clothing collection, after sales fell flat in the year to April 27 and pre-tax loss plunged to £85.4 million.

A spokesperson for Superdry said: “We’re really excited to be opening at Intu Potteries. It’s a great location for us, allowing to reach people in the region for the first time. We know the new store is going to do really well here.”

Superdry’s signing follows the arrival of a 4,900 sq ft Tessuti store at Intu Potteries earlier this year.