Loving Outlet Shopping - Value Retail News

CENTRE OPENING
Let the boon begin:
Gloucester Quays opens
By Patience Kramer
Contributing Writer
With the opening of Gloucester
Quays Designer Outlet in May,
the city of Gloucester, located
in the southwest of England near the M5
and A40, pushed back hard on the dampening
impact of the global recession.
The project – 10 years in the making
– is set to revitalize the docklands area
of the historic city and provide a longawaited
shopping experience with such favourite
outlet tenants as Marks & Spencer,
Next, Gap, Austin Reed, Hawes & Curtis,
Melka and De Keyser London.
The outlet center is part of the overall
60-acre, £400 million Gloucester Quays
development, which includes 150,000 m 2
(1.6 million sf ) of retail GLA. It is one
of the largest mixed-use waterside redevelopments
in the UK, similar in scope
to Land Securities’ Gunwharf Quays in
Portsmouth.
More than 15,000 visitors attended
opening day in May. The 10-day
grand opening featured acrobats flying
beneath the scheme’s gull-wing roof,
“Gloucester Has Talent” auditions, the
Miss Gloucester final, and a three-day
Tall Ships festival.
The center opened with 40 stores, with
an additional 16 opening in the following
weeks. Gloucester Quays is a joint venture
of Peel Holdings and British Waterways.
Built to revitalize the docklands area of
the historic city, the center is the first of
seven sites in Gloucester earmarked for
a £1 billion makeover. A four-star hotel,
supermarket, bars and restaurants are also
planned for The Quays.
For Lindsey Ashworth, Peel Holdings
development director, the center is the
culmination of 10 years of hard work. “It
was 1999 when I started this scheme and
at the time I didn’t think it was possible,”
Ashworth says. “Over the last 12 months
it has never ceased to amaze me how good
it looks. It will be a turning point for the
future of Gloucester. It will become the
epicenter for shopping and leisure.”
The development is considered a
14 InternatIOnal Outlet JOurnal Fall 2009
Part of the £400 million Gloucester Quays regeneration, the 220,000-sf Designer
Outlet portion opened in May with 40 outlet stores and another 15 ready to launch.
major boon to the city of Gloucester.
Mark Owen, chairman of the Federation
of Small Businesses and Marketing
Gloucester, predicts that as a result of the
development “Gloucester will become a
shopping destination for the whole south
west...This as a fantastic opportunity to
attract new business.”
“We all agree Gloucester is in need
of regeneration especially around the
Docks,” Franco Muccini, director of
GOUCESTER QUAYS TENANT LiST
All Wellan Good
Antler
Austin Reed
Cadbury
Caffe Nero
Calvin Klein Jeans
Calvin Klein Underwear
Chapelle Jewellery
Costa Coffee
Cotton Traders
Daniel Footwear
De Keyser London
Denby
Event Jewellery
Feraud
Gap Outlet
Green & Pleasant
Gloucester Quays Designer Outlet
observes. “Without a doubt we will put
Gloucester on the map.”
Gloucester is readily accessible via the M5
and A40 motorways and by rail is less than
two hours from London and only 45 minutes
from Bristol. In addition to center parking
availability, there is also a park-and-ride
service to Gloucester Quays that operates
every 12 minutes between the Waterwells
and St. Oswalds park-and-ride sites. c
Hawes & Curtis
Helly Hansen
Home Curtains & Bedding
Hush Puppies
Iceberg
Jeff Banks
Jovani
L.K. Bennett
Lakeland Leather
Le Creuset
Mandarina Duck
Marks & Spencer Outlet
Melka
Mountain Warehouse
Music Trade Outlet
Musto
Next
Next Clearance
Osprey London
Past Times
Pasty Presto
Pavers Shoes
Quba & Co
Regatta
Rock Couture
Roman Originals
Suits You
Sunglass Time
Tog 24
Trespass
The White Company
Wonderbra
The Works