Premium fashion retailer has designs on Cornmill

A Darlington shopping centre is adding to its menswear offer with the opening of a popular high street store specialising in designer clothing, footwear and accessories.

Scotts is set to open a 2,300 sq ft store in the Cornmill Shopping Centre on Saturday, November 30when it relocates from Northgate in the town centre to accommodate expansion plans following a recent merger with local independent fashion retailer Berties.

The store will stock a wide range of designer brands for the ‘great British gent’ including Pretty Green, Original Penguin, Fred Perry, Adidas Originals, Lacoste, Timberland and Diesel. Scotts has agreements in place with all of its key brands to supply exclusive products in its stores.

The new store, which is designed to feature a wider range of brands, is expected to employ up to 10 additional full and part-time staff taking employee numbers up to over 15.

Scotts, which will be located on the centre’s upper mall adjacent to Primark and Quiz, will complement the already varied retail offering at the Cornmill Shopping Centre. Susan Young, the Cornmill’s centre manager, said: “We’re delighted to welcome premium fashion store Scotts to the Cornmill to accommodate the store’s expansion in Darlington. We’re now in a position to offer our customers a more diverse retail experience than ever before, which is fantastic, particularly in the run up to Christmas.”

Paul Ramsdale from Scotts, said: “Scotts and Berties are proud to showcase their wide range of products in the new look location within the Cornmill Shopping Centre. We offer a high level of service and a wide range of premium brands including hundreds of exclusives from all the top designers.”

Cornmill Shopping Centre is owned by Moorfield Group, the proactive asset, development, operational and financial manager of its investments to optimise their value.

The Cornmill Shopping Centre was acquired by the Moorfield Real Estate Fund in 2006 and is managed by Plus Shops Retail Ltd.

The scheme currently comprises 220,000 sq ft with over 40 retail units and is anchored by tenants that include Primark, Next, New Look, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins, WHSmith and Clarks.