Store openings a sign of faith in city?s fortunes
Jan 31 2009 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post
VINTAGE-INSPIRED home, leisure and fashion store Cath Kidston is one of several new outlets opening at Liverpool One during the next few weeks.
The Cath Kidston store, the first in the city, will form a cornerstone of the Peter?s Lane area of the ?1bn Liverpool One development, bringing its signature floral designs to children?s wear, jewellery and household accessories.
The company was founded in 1993, when Ms Kidston opened the first shop in Notting Hill selling old junk furniture and vintage fabrics.
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This led to her creating her own distinctive fabric and product designs. There are now 21 shops in the UK (nine in London plus two concessions). It also has outlets in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama in Japan.
The store takes over two storeys of Compton House, on School Lane, a five-storey warehouse built in 1870 and next to Bluecoat Chambers.
Up-market clothes chain Flannels opens its doors at Liverpool One on February 14. This will be the chain?s second outlet in the city centre with its store at the nearby Metquarter mall having been trading since 2006.
Award-winning Thai restaurant brand Chaophraya is also set to open in March, as is the informal dining sensation Pesto, which takes the Spanish style of tapas eating and applies it to Italian cuisine.
And supermarket giant Tesco will open a superstore within Liverpool One on February 16.
This spring also sees the opening of the biggest Topshop outside London. Retail chain Arcadia has been refurbishing and extending its existing store in Church Street and turning it into a 65,000 sq ft outlet that will also open into Liverpool One.
The store, which will be five times bigger than the existing store and comprise around 48,000 sq ft of trading space, will face a head to head battle to win fashion-conscious customers with the equally huge Primark store next door.
The outlet will include a style adviser and personal shoppers who will offer customers advice on styles and sizes.
It is part of a UK expansion programme costing ?75m which is seeing an extra 400,000 sq ft of floor-space added to its existing 1.3m sq ft estate. It has been estimated this could boost annual sales by ?200m.
tonymcdonough
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