TRENDY handbag store Radley is among the latest fashion retailers to sign up to a street of fashion shops in Liverpool One that developer Grosvenor hopes will become a magnet for the region’s “fashionistas”.
Clothing chains Jigsaw, G-Star and Fred Perry, along with Radley, will unveil their first stores in the city when the £1bn retail and leisure project opens in spring.
All four stores will be in Peter’s Lane, which cuts through from School Lane to College Lane near the Bluecoat Arts Centre. The new lane of fashion boutiques will be linked to Church Street via a new entrance being cut through the former HMV store. The arcade-like covered street has been designed by leading architect Sir Jeremy Dixon, who has worked on projects including an extension to the National Gallery and Venice bus station.
Fashion store Flannels has already confirmed it will open its second Liverpool store in Peter’s Lane.
Other fashion retailers already earmarked for the fashion street include Reiss, Ted Baker and Karen Millen.
Liverpool One chief executive Joanne Jennings said: “Research tells us that shoppers in Merseyside are extremely fashion-conscious and the news of such high-end brands coming to the city for the first time has already been well received.
“Liverpool One’s catchment area spends more per head on fashion than any other city in the UK. The commitment by Jigsaw, Radley, G Star and Fred Perry, alongside Ted Baker, Reiss, Karen Millen, Jones and Flannels, is a testament to the strength of Liverpool One and the city as it approaches Capital of Culture year.”
The 43-acre Liverpool One project, centred around Paradise Street, will include more than 160 new shops, cafes and restaurants as well as two new hotels, an Odeon cinema and more than 600 apartments.
Its two anchor department stores will be occupied by Debenhams, which will have a presence in the city for the first time, and John Lewis, which will move from its existing Church Street home.
Grosvenor said 78% of the scheme’s floor area had been “committed” to tenants, but would not say what proportion of units had been let.
alistairhoughton
