Primark to open at Bluewater in 2019

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 22, 2017

Bluewater has been upping its high-end tenant quota in recent months but the giant mall in Kent is also attracting tenants at the lower end of the price scale.

And its two latest signing really bring that strategy home. Fresh from news that Kate Spade New York will join luxury owner Coach with a store at centre, has come the announcement that Primark will open there in 2019.

To add to the growing list of upscale labels, Primark will bring its ultimate blend of low-cost fast fashion to a unit not far from the House of Fraser department store that anchors one corner of the mall’s triangular layout.

It will replace an Early Learning Centre store on Upper Thames walk (ELC is moving in with Mothercare downstairs), according to reports. The opening in two years’ time will mean that it will potentially have three stores inclose proximity to each other with existing branches in nearby Dartford and Gravesend.

While local authorities said they do not believe either of those stores would be closed following the Bluewater debut, and while Primark itself has not commented, it is undeniable that openings at major shopping malls can lead to town centre closures.

Retailers including Next and M&S have closed their town centre shops due to a focus on their megastores in Bluewater, which is one of Europe’s most successful malls, as well as being the biggest across the continent. In Gravesend, for instance, M&S’s site on New Road is now occupied by a B&M discount superstore.