THE city’s flagship shopping centre, Liverpool One, is almost at full capacity after eight retailers announced openings or expansions.

The commitments involve a total of 64,844 sq ft and include openings before Christmas by women’s fashion store Internacionale, lingerie retailer Boux Avenue, the Card Factory, and a flagship store by footwear chain Schuh.

Coffee chain Starbucks recently opened a new concept café, shoe store Office has moved to bigger premises, while interiors retailers Stockton’s and Belle Maison also relocated to bigger premises within the city centre site.

Liverpool One was a £1bn scheme by developer Grosvenor, which opened in 2008.

Bevin Donaghy, spokesperson for Office, said: “Ever since we opened, we have traded beyond high expectations at Liverpool One.

“Consequently, we worked closely with Grosvenor to secure the earliest opportunity to open our second largest store in the country.

“This move increases our sales area by 50% and creates a regional flagship for the Office brand.”

Miles Dunnett, Grosvenor Liverpool Fund head of asset management, added: “These latest brands are great additions to Liverpool One and build on its well-established mix of UK and international brands, which will be joined this autumn by the first Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar in the world.”

He said: “This has been a great year for Liverpool One, which goes from strength to strength.

“We have just welcomed our 100 millionth visitor, footfall and sales are up by 1.4% and 2.3% respectively versus 2011.”

Grosvenor said that driving this performance is the growth of Liverpool One’s catchment and the number of affluent shoppers now loyal to the Liverpool One brand.

In addition, 45% of visitors are from the top five most affluent profiles, compared with 36% for the catchment area as a whole.

When Liverpool One opened in 2008 the city was positioned at 13th slot in business information expert Experian’s ranking of UK retail cities.

Since the centre opened Liverpool has been catapulted to fifth spot.

Liverpool One said it has seen rental growth in 2012, but the first annual report into the city’s retail market by the council published in July claimed its average rates had dropped, to achieve full occupancy.