International sports retailer Kukri will open a temporary store in Victoria Square Shopping Centre for the second successive year.
The store will be open from October 2015 until January 2016 with an official opening event on Wednesday 21st October from 7pm-8pm with Ulster Rugby players in attendance.
Commenting on the store opening, General manager and Director of Kukri Sports Ireland, Terry Jackson, said: “We’re really excited to be back in Victoria Square. Last year was a real success for us and we’re delighted to be back in the thriving shopping centre for a second year. It will be great to offer Ulster Rugby and Belfast Giants merchandise in the heart of the City Centre, so even more people than ever can show their support for the teams.”
Mark Thallon Retail Partner at TDK commented “We are delighted to have once again helped Kukri to deliver this store on the back of an excellent offering last year. This has once again TDK to highlight their ability to secure premises on a tight timeframe to our clients satisfaction.”
The store will not only complement the other tenants in Northern Ireland’s number one shopping destination, it will add to Kukri’s existing retail operations at the Kingspan Stadium and the Odyssey Arena.
The Kukri Store will once again be located in Lower Ground store 32.
TDK Property are delighted to announce the letting of the last remaining restaurant unit at Boucher Square to Nandos. Nandos will open their fourth restaurant in Northern Ireland in early November. They are acquiring 3,200 sq.ft. within the successful restaurant scheme developed by Belfast based Alterity Investments Ltd.
This completes the line up at Boucher Square, with Nandos joining the other operators, Ed’s Easy Diner, Costa Coffee and Frankie & Benny’s who all opened over the summer.
Commenting on the Nando’s letting Mark Thallon said, “We are delighted to have secured Nandos for the last unit in the scheme. Interest in Boucher Square has been exceptional and has proved that demand for leisure use on the Boucher Road is very strong”
Boucher Sq currently provides for units in excess of 12,000 sq.ft. of restaurant space along with over 150 car parking spaces. And is located opposite the successful Boucher Retail Park.
BNP Paribas Real Estate is continuing its expansion with a new alliance partnership signed with Belfast based TDK Commercial Property Consultants.
Patrick Curran, Managing Director, BNP Paribas Real Estate in Ireland commented, “The alliance agreement covers the Transaction, Consulting, Valuation and Property Management business lines for corporate real estate and offers clients of both firms full coverage across the island of Ireland. We are delighted that TDK have formalised their relationship with BNP Paribas Real Estate.”
TDK was formed in Belfast in 2010 by Mark Thallon, Stephen Deyermond and Tanya McKeown and has quickly grown and is now recognized as one of Northern Ireland’s top commercial agents with a particular strength in the retail and banking sectors.
TDK have led H&M’s and Poundland’s expansion in Ireland over the last 5 years, including the acquisition of H&M’s flagship store in Ireland on Dublin’s College Green. Other major retail clients include M&S, Halfords, Dunelm Mill, Pets at Home, Maplin and H&M’s other leading fashion brands COS and ‘& Other Stories’.
Recent lettings instructions have included the successful Boucher Square Leisure Park, Now fully let to Nando’s, Frankie and Benny’s, Costa Coffee and Ed’s Easy Diner.
Property Management Instructions include Marks and Spencer’s Sprucefield Retail Park, Lisburn, and the 300,000 sq ft Riverside Retail Park, Coleraine anchored by B& Q and Sainsbury’s.
TDK are also increasing active in the investment market having recently been involved in the acquisition and subsequent asset management of the Diamond Centre Coleraine and the Valley Retail Park, Newtownabbey.
“By signing this alliance agreement we are delighted to be aligning ourselves with BNP Paribas Real Estate, a growing brand throughout Europe and within the UK and Ireland. We are confident this will grow our client base and enable our existing client base benefit from the large BNP Paribas Real Estate network in Ireland and Great Britain.” explains Stephen Deyermond of TDK Commercial Property Consultants.
In addition to its 3,800 employees, spread across 17 countries, BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Alliance network, which now represents a further 3,170 employees, across 21 additional countries, which enables the company to support and service clients in a total of 38 countries with 6,970 people.
AEW UK REIT PLC has acquired Valley Retail Park, Newtownabbey in Belfast for £7.2 million.
The real estate investment trust said the site comprises seven modern purpose built retail warehouse units with tenants including Harvey Norman Leasing, Halfords and Harry Corry Ltd.
This is AEW’s fourth acquisition and it now has around GBP40 million in investments. “We are pleased to have now completed four acquisitions for the REIT and are working in line with our proposed timetable as set out to investors prior to the REIT launch. We currently have under offer a range of similar deals and therefore expect to be able to make further announcements over the coming weeks,” Portfolio Manager Alex Short said in a statement.
TDK assisted in the purchase with the due diligence and are now retained to provide Asset Management and the implementation of a letting strategy for the Park. Commenting on this Mark Thallon, Partner at TDK commented, “We are delighted to be involved in this scheme with AEW and look to forward assisting with letting the voids and implementing our strategy for the Park.”
A US-style burger bar will be the first restaurant opening as part of a major development at Belfast’s Boucher Road, bringing in dozens of new jobs.
Ed’s Easy Diner is set to fling open its doors as part of the new Boucher Square development in the Boucher Road area of south Belfast.
And its the first in a series of major tenants to take over the brand new development – currently under construction – which has been revealed exclusively by the Belfast Telegraph.
Two other chains have already let out units, including big-name cafe Costa Coffee and Italian eatery Frankie and Benny’s.
Meanwhile a fourth remaining unit is “currently under offer to a national restaurant operator”.
The premises is owned by Alterity Investments Ltd, which was formerly known as Deramore until 2013, and has been let out by Belfast-based TDK.
The first restaurants are due to open by early June, with the deal being handled by the commercial property firm.
The letting agent’s Mark Thallon said: “We are pleased with the level of interest this new scheme has generated resulting in a fully pre-let scheme prior to the first restaurant openings which are scheduled for early June.”
Boucher Square’s four units will include in excess of 12,000 sq ft of restaurant space, along with 150 on-site parking spaces.
The development is currently under construction.
The first restaurants are due to open by early June, with the deal being handled by the commercial property firm.
The letting agent’s Mark Thallon said: “We are pleased with the level of interest this new scheme has generated resulting in a fully pre-let scheme rior to the first restaurant openings which are scheduled for early June.”
Boucher Square’s four units will include in excess of 12,000 sq ft of restaurant space, along with 150 on-site parking spaces.
The development is currently under construction.
Ed’s Easy Diner is creating 25 new jobs in Belfast when it opens its first outlet here in time for summer.
The UK-owned chain is set to bring a host of US classics such as burgers, chilli, hotdogs and fries in 1950s American diner-style surroundings, complete with jukebox.
Andrew Guy, chief executive of Ed’s Easy Diner, told the Belfast Telegraph the new Boucher Road restaurant is “the perfect location for our diner”.
“We are so proud to be launching our first ever site in Northern Ireland,” he said. “We will be working closely with employment charity Springboard, hiring around 25 new staff from the surrounding area. The new development will hopefully attract a large number of people from all over Belfast this summer.”
Ed’s Easy Diner already has more than 30 restaurants spread out across Britain, and is one of the UK’s fastest-growing food chains.
It’s the latest burger chain planning to set up shop in Northern Ireland – selling a raft of hearty American classics.
And earlier this year, the Belfast Telegraph revealed a US fast-food chain with the seal of approval of no less than US President Barack Obama is opening up in Northern Ireland. Five Guys is checking out locations in Belfast as it prepares a roll-out of at least 10 sites across the island.
And just this year Irish fast-food favourite Eddie Rocket’s opened its first outlet in Newry.
Taken from Belfast Telegraph on Friday, 24th April 2015 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/eds-easy-diner-belfast-outlet-serves-up-25-new-jobs-31166683.html
National catering chains Costa Coffee and Frankie & Bennys have signed up to acquire space in Alterity Investments new restaurant development Boucher SQ, Belfast, this has ensured more than 50% of the space has been prelet 3 months prior to construction being completed.
Construction of the new restaurant complex at Boucher is well advanced with access due to be granted to the tenants in early April. Commenting on this letting agent Mark Thallon of TDK said, ”We have been delighted with the level of interest shown in the scheme and the fact that 2 national brands have committed already to open in the scheme. We are at an advanced stage of negotiations on the remaining space and hope to able to announce at least one more letting over the next few weeks to a new UK operator entering the Irish market for the first time.”
Five years after opening their Belfast City Centre store on Ann Street, Belfast, Poundland are to double their floor space by acquiring the adjoining vacant unit.
In a deal negotiated by TDK this will see Poundland operating from in excess of 10,000 sq.ft. of retail space on the ground floor. Commenting on this latest Poundland upsize Mark Thallon of TDK said, “This latest extension of an existing store follows on from the successful addition of extra space at the Castle Court, Belfast and Bow Street Mall, Lisburn stores in the past 12 months. Poundland continue to trade exceptionally well within Northern Ireland and the acquisition of additional space at Ann Street is testament to this and will allow them the chance to offer further amazing value to their City Centre shoppers.”
H&M, the Swedish fashion retailer which TDK assists in store acquisitions across Ireland has opened a new flagship store on College Green in Dublin, they are also seeking new locations for expansion in the Irish market and Carlos Duarte, the managing director of H&M for the UK and Ireland, said it wants to add to its store network here of 16.
The group is also seeking to expand its sister store networks, Cos, an upscale fashion retailer, and “& Other Stories”, its accessories brand.
“With H&M, we are not, for example, in Waterford or Galway, ” said Mr Duarte. “There are also more possibilities around Dublin, so there is a lot of room for expansion.”
The company this year opened a standalone Cos outlet in the former Tower Records shop on Wicklow Street in Dublin which TDK acquired on their behalf. Cos also operates as concessions in, for example, Brown Thomas in Dublin and Galway.
H&M has also said it plans to open “& Other Stories” on Grafton Street, on a site that once housed A-Wear. “Other Stories is growing fast internationally, and it always begins in the main capitals. Dublin was the obvious place to open one, but we are looking for more in Ireland. There is also a lot of room for growth in Cos, with both concessions and standalone stores,” said Mr Duarte.
He declined to say how many stores H&M is targeting for the Irish market, but said the company “wants to grow in the same way as Pennys, ” which operates internationally as Primark. “The business idea is different to Primark, but we think we have the right concept for Irish fashion shoppers, and we’re growing strongly here,” he said.
H&M, which is listed in Stokholm and has about 3,500 stores globally, reported reported sales in Ireland between June and August of 207 million Swedish Krona (€21.8 million), up a third on the same period last year.
With its new Dublin flagship store which TDK negotiated the acquisition on, the company is on target to breach the €85 million mark in Irish revenues over 12 months. Its total sales Ireland in the year to the end of November 2013 were €60.5 million. H&M’s new store is housed in the listed old National Irish bank outlet on College Green, which it rents from the property developer Paddy McKillen for about €830,000 annually. The store is located on the fringes of the traditional fashion shopping precinct that surrounds Grafton Street, although Abercrombie & Fitch is located nearby. Mr Duarte said the company is confident it can attract its young, budget-conscious target market to the area. “Abercrombie & Fitch is able to do it. We think it’s the right location,” he said.
He said the 25,000 sq ft outlet, is one of nine similarly-designed flagships in its global network. As well as H&M’s range of budget-priced fashion, it also includes a “shoe lounge”.
(Source Irish Times 19 December 2014)
Discount retailer Dealz has opened two more stores in Ireland, in Mallow, Co Cork and Navan, Co Meath and will open a third in Athy, Co Kildare on 11 December.
The three stores will create 80 new Irish jobs, bringing the total number of stores to 39 and jobs created to 950.
Thirty people have been taken on for the Navan store which measures 3,453 sq ft while 25 are working in the Mallow outlet, which has a retail space of 3,379 sq ft.
Dealz Athy will create 25 new jobs when it opens next Thursday and will be the third store in Kildare with a retail space of 6,565 sq ft.
Customers at Dealz in Mallow, Navan and Athy will be able to choose from more than 3,000 products, including over 1,000 well-known brands across 17 product categories.
The price point for most products in Dealz stores is €1.49.
Source – Sorcha Corcoran – Business and Leadership Ltd
