Yate Shopping Centre a real hit with retailers

Yate Shopping Centre is proving as popular as ever with tenant activity at an all time high and vacancy rates at the lowest for many years.

This weekend will be particularly active with Cardzone!, formerly Special Occasions, opening again on Saturday, 18^thOctober after a full refit and the following day Calendar Club will be opening in 20 West Walk on a temporary lease.

Furthermore, bakers Greggs in East Walk will shortly be closing their doors temporarily for a complete refit of their store which will see internal customer seating introduced. The store will close on Saturday, 1^stNovember and re-open on Friday, 7^thNovember.

However, the major boost for the Centre is the arrival of Boots who are opening a new specialist opticians store in 11 West Walk in late November.

Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “We are getting a lot of interest from retailers asking about space and, in particular, people looking for leases before the Christmas season. There is also increased activity as a result of the forthcoming Yate Riverside leisure development and the increasing confidence in the economy generally.

“Our current vacancy rate has fallen to about 6% which at about half of the national rate proves Yate is as popular as ever with both shoppers and retailers. Some of the old favourite temporary Christmas shops such as Calendar Club are back again and will be in full flow in time for the lights switch-on with Peter Andre on 13^thNovember. We are expecting a bumper season this year with so much to offer.”

Cardzone! in 15 South Walk is one of 14 family-owned stores in the Cotswolds and Welsh border areas selling a wide range of greeting cards, associated celebration gifts and decorations, and a selection of Thorntons chocolates.

Boots have just taken occupancy of the former First Choice unit at 11 West Walk and fit out has   started with opening scheduled for late November. Boots recently merged with Dolland & Aitchison which has seen the number of stores increase to 690, making them one of the biggest franchisers in the Opticians sector.

Andrew Lowrey: “It’s always good to see another national high street chain come to the Centre as they help drive the footfall that the smaller independent traders rely on. Furthermore, having spent two years improving East Walk, we are now seeing new shops in all the other thoroughfares bringing increased activity throughout the Centre as a whole.”