A well-known store is set to move into the huge retail unit vacated by Toys R Us in York.
Home Bargains plans to open a new store in the building, on Hurricane Way at the Clifton Moor shopping park.
And it is planning a £1.5m investment – while employing 60 people.
TJ Morris Ltd, parent company of Home Bargains, has ambitious expansion plans, and York is part of those plans.
‘Good news for York’
The much bigger Hurricane Way store meets with the retailer’s desire to “upsize the store with the vacant Toys R Us unit presenting the perfect opportunity,” it says in planning documents to City of York Council.
The proposal is to keep the Foss Islands shop, while closing the small Clifton Moor branch and transferring staff to the bigger store.
Bosses are set to completely refurbish the old Toys R Us store inside and out, with a total spend of £1.5m, if they are given planning permission. They say:
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Up to 60 people will be employed in the retail unit, which is a substantial increase in employment.
These new jobs are particularly significant at the current time when the retail sector is experiencing a structural change leading to the loss of many household names, including Toys R Us.
Home Bargains is a good news story for York and further demonstrates HB’s commitment to the town.
Boost to retail sector
The chain went into administration in February shutting all 105 shops.
In July property company FI Real Estate Management revealed that it had sold six former Toys R Us properties in a series of deals ‘worth £30.5 million’.
These included the Clifton Moor site, although it didn’t disclose the name of the buyer at that time.
The news is a boost to York’s retail sector, which has seen a number of high profile shops leave the city in the last two years.