On July 25 fashion and home retailer Next will open a new 50,000 sq.ft. store in Straiton Retail Park, Midlothian.
The new flagship will be the third move for the retailer within the park in five years, taking up a newly refurbished and unrecognisable unit previously occupied by Homebase. After several months of construction, the store will be opened by the Lord Provost at 10am on Monday 25th July.
At fifty thousand square feet of floorspace, eighty thousand including warehouse, the shop will not only be the largest to open in Scotland but also the third largest in the United Kingdom. A newly created second floor has doubled the size of the old unit, allowing not only Next to open in the space but also Costa Coffee and stationer Paperchase. The jeweller, Beaverbrooks will also be opening their first ever concession within the shop.
For Next, the move has allowed them to dramatically increase their offering. In addition to the ranges that were on show at their old unit in the park, the new store will feature a lingerie and shoe room along with sets depicting ideal bedrooms and bathrooms. Their womenswear, menswear and childrenswear departments have also been expanded. A double height atrium filled with light from new glass curtain walls will welcome shoppers.
Next Straiton Store Manager, Charles McIvor, said:
All of the team are really excited to launch the largest store in Scotland, we are gearing up to give all of our customers the best shopping experience that we can offer. We will be the first store to have a Costa, a Beaverbrooks and a paperchase concession all under one roof. We cannot wait to get in and make it all happen.
To celebrate the opening, the retailers within are holding various giveaways and competitions. Next themselves will be giving the first 50 people in the queue on Monday 25th July a ‘Golden’ envelope. Each envelope contains a gift card of between £5 and £100 in value to spend in store. If that’s not enough, Next is running a competition for one lucky customer to win a £250 gift card. Beaverbrooks will be running their own competition to win a £250 diamond pendant. Entrants will be asked to identify the number of loose gemstones in a display cabinet and then entering their number in store or tweeting using the hashtag #BeaverbrooksStraitonDiamondHunt. No doubt Costa and Paperchase will also be joining in the fun.
Debbie Sutherland, store manager at the new Beaverbrooks Straiton concession, who is joined by a team of seven, said:
We’re counting down the days until opening day. This is our first concession in the UK and so we’re hugely excited for the grand unveiling.
At Beaverbrooks we pride ourselves in our exceptional customer service, expert knowledge and our product offering and we can’t wait to welcome the local community into our gorgeous brand new store.
As a family business we’ve been hand selecting diamonds for almost 100 years and so we thought our diamond treasure hunt would be a fun way to celebrate our opening while showcasing our breath–taking diamonds. We hope shoppers drop by and enjoy our special launch day activity.
To enter the competition simply count the number of loose gemstones in the Beaverbrooks Straiton store diamond display and submit your entry in-store or on Twitter.com/Beaverbrooks. The competition runs from 10am until 9pm on Monday 25th July 2016. All correct answers will be entered into the draw and one winner will be picked at random.
Next at the Peel Centre, Straiton will be open Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 7:30pm and Sunday 9am to 7pm.