Next opens new giant store at Intu Merry Hill
Next has opened one of its largest UK stores to date at Intu Merry Hill.
The opening follows the announcement that owner Intu plans to spend more than £100 million refurbishing the West Midlands shopping destination and building a major leisure extension there.
Next began working with Intu last year on converting a former Sainsbury’s site into the state-of-the-art store which also includes a Lipsy concession, homewares department and a Costa Coffee outlet.
The retailer opened another large store at Intu Metrocentre earlier this year.
With 55,000 square feet of retail space, the store stocks one of Next’s largest collections of clothing for women, men and children.
In addition, Primark will be opening an extended store at the centre later this year by expanding into a former BHS unit to create 70% more space.
Meanwhile, a planned 180,000 square foot leisure extension will open up space for more restaurants and on-site cinema at the centre.
Nick Round, regional managing director of Intu, said: “This brilliant new store is a significant investment by Next and a huge vote of confidence for Intu Merry Hill’s exciting future as a prime retail and leisure destination.
“Many of the UK’s most popular retailers are opening bigger stores across our portfolio of prime retail destinations where they can showcase their full product range and reach a high proportion of their target customers. We work closely with brands like Next and Primark to build space where they can flourish as part of our creative asset management strategy.”
Elsewhere in the Intu portfolio, River Island is planning to double the size of its store at Intu Lakeside and Zara is taking three times more space there to create two new flagship shops.
