Big name stores sign up for met quarterA number of flagship stores have signed up for a new £75m luxury
shopping development now under construction in Liverpool city centre.
The Met Quarter is scheduled to open next February on the former Post
Office site in Victoria Street and Whitechapel. Developer Milligan has
announced the latest batch of names to take up units in the new complex.
They are the fashion retailers Hobbs, All Saints, Mikey and Aspecto. Hobbs,
which will have a 3,500 sq ft store offering women’s clothes, shoes
and accessories, is one of the most successful high street names with
more than 60 outlets throughout the UK and Ireland.
The 4,000 sq ft All Saints store ‘ the first to open in Liverpool
‘ offers a range of men and women’s fashions. Mikey, at 1,200
sq ft, will be selling its own range of jewellery, while Aspecto is an
independent fashion and footwear retail chain which will operate from
a 2,000 sq ft store. Other tenants imminently due to sign up include such
prestigious names as Gieves & Hawkes, Caf?Rouge, Timberland and Animal.
So far, 60% of floor space at the 120,000 sq ft arcade, containing 46
retail units, has been let. For many, it will be their first time in Liverpool.
Among he names already signed are Armani, which will have a 6,250 sq ft
double level store, and Hugo Boss, with a 7,000 sq ft store.
Others include Bailey, Costa Coffee and the Sassoon Studio. The development’s
17,000 sq ft ‘anchor store’ will be the fashion retailer,
Flannels. A spokesman for Milligan said: ‘Every place we create
is a one-off. Each is inspired, designed and created by focusing on the
want and desires of the people who will visit, use and enjoy the space.
‘The innovative use of natural materials lends a sense of gravitas.
Yet the soul of the scheme is one of a vibrant, exciting personality in
fashion.’ Milligan bought the Victorian post office site, which
had been derelict for around 20 years, from the Walton Group last year.
It is hoped the Met Quarterwill be the perfect accompaniment to Grosvenor’s
£750m Paradise Street development less than 100 years away. The
project is being designed by Edmund Kirby (architects) and The Design
Solution (interiors).