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Story taken from Yate & Sodbury Gazette 18th March 2016
CLOTHING and homeware chain TK Maxx is expected to open a store in Yate this summer, the Gazette can exclusively reveal.
The firm is believed to be taking over the third and final retail unit in the new Yate Riverside development, an extension to Yate Shopping Centre on Link Road where a cinema is opening next month.
TK Maxx sells women’s, men’s and children’s fashion as well as bedding, home décor and giftware.
The American-owned firm has been named on a planning application for new signs and minor exterior alterations submitted to South Gloucestershire Council this week.
The planning statement, put forward by Yate Shopping Centre owners Crestbridge Corporate Trustees, said: “The unit is not yet occupied but the proposed amendments are a direct response to the requirements of the proposed occupier TK Maxx and it is hoped will be able to commence trading at this location in the summer of 2016.”
It added: “TKMaxx is a leading national retailer and has a desirable retail offer that attracts shoppers and as such will be of benefit to the overall retail offer in Yate to attract people in to the centre.
“Crestbridge will deliver the unit ready for occupation by the retailer however the details required by TK Maxx such as signage and plant are the responsibility of the occupying retailer.”
Next and Pets at Home opened stores at Yate Riverside at the end of last year and restaurant chains Nando’s, Frankie and Benny’s and Prezzo are also open. A six-screen Cineworld is due to open on April 29.
A new fruit orchard has been planted on Yate Common as part of the plans to build a new cinema-based leisure scheme at Yate Riverside.
The orchard, comprising a variety of 20 fruit trees – apple, pear, cherry, plum and quince – was one of the conditions associated with the Riverside development. An orchard of six trees was cleared to make way for the development and the new orchard replaces the original orchard.
Crestbridge, owners of Yate Shopping Centre and developers of the Yate Riverside scheme, consulted with Yate Town Council who, after local consultation, opted for this site.
Andrew Lowrey, Manager of Yate Shopping Centre which includes Yate Riverside, said: “The planning condition stipulated that we could plant the trees either on the Riverside site or, if not possible, anywhere in the Yate area.
“This seemed the ideal location as there is already a recently planted orchard on the site so this will complement it. In years to come, as the orchard develops it will make the Common an even more attractive area for wildlife and public use.
“Wherever possible we have tried to include local trees hence the Ashmeads Kermal, Beauty of Bath and Blenheim Orange, all of which are eating apple varieties.”
Friends of Yate Common Treasurer, Pat Cotterell: “It’s good news that we have further trees being planted on the Common as they will bring greater wildlife diversity and break-up the current openness.
“The Common is becoming ever more popular with the public as an area for walking and relaxing. Such investment can only help its long-term attractiveness and public interest. We are very grateful to both the Town Council and Crestbridge for this opportunity.”
One of the world’s leading technology and entertainment product retailers is taking space in North Walk at Yate Shopping Centre.
CeX which specialises in the purchase, sale and exchange of a range of technology and entertainment products including mobile phones, video games, DVDs and Blu-ray movies, computers, digital electronics, TVs and monitors, and music CDs will be opening in the former PaperBox unit at 23 North Walk.
Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “This is another great attraction for the Centre with particular appeal to the younger market. The fact that an international retailer with branches all over the world has chosen to open in Yate demonstrates our importance in the regional shopping hierarchy.
“CeX is currently fitting out the unit which is expected to open at the beginning of February and will employ 8 staff, all recruited through the local Job Centre.”
CeX was founded in London in 1992 and has stores in the UK, Spain, USA, Ireland, India, Australia, Portugal, Netherlands, Mexico and Poland.
Full details on the shops, events and facilities at Yate Shopping Centre can be found at their website at www.yateshoppingcentre.co.uk
Yate Shopping Centre has sparkled in the annual battle to attract visitors over the Christmas period.
Nearly 1.2 million shoppers were counted visiting Tescos and the main centre walkways during December 2015, an 0.85% increase over the previous year and the busiest December since the Tesco Extra opened.
The 0.85% increase is very significant when compared to national and regional trends: nationally visitors were down 1.9% and regionally 1.2%.
Andy Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “These figures are very encouraging and show that Yate Shopping Centre is a key shopping attraction to local and regional visitors.
“Whereas many of the new shops and restaurants at Yate Riverside are now open, we still have a lot of work to do. The new retailers at Yate Riverside are already very popular attractions but it won’t be until the Spring that the cinema and Dean’s Diner will be open. This will give added strength to the Centre’s offer and will be really exciting times.
“I would also expect the Cineworld to make a significant impact on footfall next Christmas as people will be able to watch the top newly released films in Yate and won’t have to drive further afield.
“The increase in footfall is so important to the independent traders who have benefitted from the attraction of the big name high street stores. Now that Yate Riverside is nearing completion our focus will be on addressing the vacant units in the main Centre to drive up traffic through the Centre. We are already in discussions with several national and local operators about new lets and hope to make some exciting announcements in the near future.”
Full details on the shops, events and facilities at Yate Shopping Centre can be found at their website at www.yateshoppingcentre.co.uk
Many of the new retail and restaurant units at Yate Riverside will be opening their doors to the public for the first time over the next few weeks following in the footsteps of Pets at Home which opened three weeks ago.
This growth coincides with extended interest in many of the vacant units in the existing Centre which could see occupancy rise to a post-recession high with vacancy rates (7%) falling to half of the national average.
Andrew Lowrey, Manager of Yate Shopping Centre, sees this as a major step in the evolution of the Shopping Centre as it consolidates its standing in South Gloucestershire’s retail hierarchy and prepares for the future growth of the town: “The cinema and restaurants bring a new dimension to the Centre’s offer. It has always been the owner’s and Town Council’s aim to develop a sustainable nighttime economy and with these new units, the town is well prepared for the future arrival of nearly 3,000 new homes.”
The key dates for the openings over the next few weeks are:
Prezzo – 26th November
Frankie & Benny’s – 1st December
Next – 10th December
Nandos – 16th December
Deans Diner – 25th April 2016
Cineworld – May 2016
Andy Lowrey continued: “Also this week we have seen Starbucks open in the former Burton’s unit which has been vacant for over three years, a temporary Christmas shop (What Stores Christmas Wonderland) open in the former Entertainer unit and have entered into legal negotiations with two potential operators for units in North Walk.
“There is no doubt that the cinema, restaurants and retail units have acted as a magnet in attracting other interests!”
Yate Shopping Centre’s Christmas festivities will kick-off this year on Saturday 14th November with a wide variety of entertainment to suit all the family.
Rather than the traditional star-studded launch, the Centre will be turned into an arena of activity on the Saturday, as Tracy King, the Centre’s Marketing Manager explains: “This year the Christmas trading period will see the new Yate Riverside shops and restaurants opening so we decided to opt for an activity packed launch on the Saturday enabling visitors to experience the full scope of the Centre.
“People will be encouraged to come throughout the day to experience a cornucopia of Yuletide activities ranging from live tribute acts to Santa’s workshops. Furthermore the following weekend the traditional Santa’s Grotto will open offering all visitors a free gift.
- Meet Father Christmas & The Snowman hourly from 11am
- Live tribute acts including Michael Buble, Elton John and Frank Sinatra performing on stage from 11am
- Santa’s workshops with photo frames gift bags, tree decoration and Christmas cards
- Christmas face painting
- Meet & Greet Elsa, Anna and Olaf
- Stilt walkers and balloon modelling
Christmas Lights will be switched on at 5.00pm by the great man himself Father Christmas.
Following the success of the craft fairs held during August & September, Home Crafters is returning to Yate Shopping Centre in the run-up to Christmas.
The online craft fair showcases the talents of local artisans and crafters in and around the Chipping Sodbury area with a wide range of products and produce on sale.
The Home Crafters Market will be open 10am – 4pm in unit 6-8 North Walk on the following initial dates with more likely to be added soon:
- 3rd, 17th and 31st October
- 14th and 28th November
- 5th, 12th and 19th December
Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager, said: Home Crafters proved a very popular attraction during the summer and we are pleased to be able to offer opportunites to local start up businesses by providing vacant units for a minimal fee.
Home Crafters organiser,Kirsty Bevan, said: “Yate Shopping Centre is an ideal location for our Christmas market as it gives us exposure to so many shoppers. Our artisans and crafters offer a lot of variety that is not found in the usual shops, with the majority of items hand-made, bespoke, one-off pieces.Our market days will provide the ideal opportunity for shoppers to find the perfect Christmas decorations and gifts.
“In addition, we hope our showcase will encourage other people to join us in displaying their produce and products at future events as we are always looking for new members”.
To contact Home Crafters, please contact www.HomeCrafters.co.uk or homecraftersuk@gmail.com
The demand for shops in Yate is as strong as ever with four retailers expressing keen interest in taking space in the Shopping Centre’s North Walk.
This comes at the same time as it is confirmed that Nandos has committed to taking a retail unit in the new cinema-led Yate Riverside scheme and two of the new retail units – Next and Pets at Home – have been handed over by contractors ISG to the tenants for fit-out
Centre Manager, Andrew Lowrey, said: “There is no doubt that the new Yate Riverside scheme has sparked interest in what the town has to offer. Over the past couple of years, we have seen a lot of interest in the main Shopping Centre on the back of the marketing for the cinema scheme.
“Recently, it was announced that Starbucks is taking the old Burton’s unit and now there are four retailers vying for space in North Walk.
“This is good for the town as it demonstrates that Crestbridge’s investment over the past few years – over £40 million since they bought the Centre in 2006 – is paying off. Yate is scheduled to have 2,500 new houses in due course and the Shopping Centre will be well placed to meet the additional shopping demand, preventing residents having to drive further afield and, importantly, creating local jobs.”
Next and Pets at Home have started the internal fit-out of two of the retail units at Yate Riverside with the former scheduled to open late October/early November and Next early December.
Nandos will be joining Prezzos, Dean’s Diner, and Frankie & Benny’s in the restaurant line-up adjacent to the Cineworld six-screen. Pets At Home are scheduled to open on the 30th October, Frankie & Benny’s 16th November and Next, Nandos and Prezzo early December.
Popular nationwide peri-peri chicken restaurant Nandos is in talks to take a unit at Yate Riverside.
The company has submitted planning applications for the customised restaurant frontage but as Andy Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager explains, the lease is yet to be finalised:
“We are currently in legal negotiations with Nandos who are in the process of taking one of the units in the new Yate Riverside leisure complex but we have yet to finalise anything. Obviously as soon as we are able to confirm whether they have signed-up we will do so.
“Nandos was by far the most requested restaurant when we undertook the public consultation for the scheme so we are delighted they want to join the other great names in the town centre.”
Nandos will join an ever-growing list of national restaurant operators and retailers who have expressed an interest or are committed to coming to Yate. Prezzo, Frankie & Bennys and Dean’s Diner restaurants are already committed to joining Cineworld, Next and Pets at Home with further well known chains waiting in the wings.”
With the scheme now over 70% let, the shops and restaurants are scheduled to open in December with the cinema opening Easter 2016. Handover of the restaurants and shops will be next month and the cinema unit will start fitting-out from December.
The main act at Yate Shopping Centre’s 50th anniversary celebrations will be the chart-topping local group, The Wurzels, supported by a host of tribute acts and other entertainment over the weekend of 22nd and 23rd August.
The full programme which will be the climax of the Centre’s summer activities has now been released and contains many old favourites:
SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST: Music through the decades with many of the UK’s finest tribute acts
11.00am Frank Sinatra/Buddy Holly
Noon Tom Jones
1.00pm Adam Ant/Michael Jackson
2.00pm Mainly Madness
3.00pm Robbie Williams
SUNDAY 23RD AUGUST
11.00am Community Music and Dance Groups
1.00pm Avon Fire & Rescue Wind Band
1.30pm Cake cutting & mural unveiling
2.00pm The Wurzels
In addition to the wide range of music, there will be a Party on the Beach with inflatables, bouncy castle, large slide, children’s characters and free giveaways.
Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “This is without doubt the largest event we have ever put on in our 50 year history and will be something to remember. We are encouraging the traders to get involved and local schools will be unveiling the latest mural which has been created 50 years after the first which is now sited near the entrance to the Tesco Extra store.
“Although the anniversary is the climax of the summer events, there will be activities going on throughout the holidays and, apart from the ever-popular beach in the centre square, the first of these will be a ‘Pop-Up Craft Fair’ at the end of this month. We are ensuring there is an activity that appeals to everybody over the next six weeks or so.”
The pop-up Craft fair, organised by HomeCrafters will be sited in 6-8 North Walk on Friday, 31st July and Saturday 1st August. It will include a wide variety of different crafts but as organiser Kirsty Bevan said there is always room for more: “We welcome new participants as the more the merrier. Anybody interested can contact me to reserve a table or go through our website”.
The regular programme of events being held throughout the summer holidays includes:
23rd July Jazz Band
30th July Punch & Judy (on the Beach)
4th August Fireman Sam and Norman Price making appearances on the hour from Noon to 4pm
6th August Disco on the Beach
11th August 61ft assault course
13th August Steel Band
20th August Punch & Judy (on the Beach)
27th August Craft Workshop
Full details on all summer activities at Yate Shopping Centre are included on the Centre’s website at www.yateshoppingcentre.co.uk
Further information on HomeCrafters is available from Kirsty Bevan, e-mail: homecraftersuk@gmail.comor website: www.homecrafters.co.uk