New Stores Looking to Invest in Bury
Bury St. Edmunds is proving to be highly attractive to some high profile retailers seeking to set up shop on the outskirts of the town.
Three well-known names are seeking planning permission to be granted that will allow them to invest in Bury resulting in a total of 20 new full-time and 25 new part-time jobs. Cotswolds Outdoor Ltd, Majestic Wine Warehouse Ltd and The Bathstore, all traditionally out of town retailers, provide bulky goods, not suitable for carrying through a town centre and therefore totally lend themselves to a site where parking is close by. Their chosen location is the Western side of Bury, just off the A14, at the site of the Glasswells World of Furniture store along Newmarket Road.
The companies will be situated within the Glasswells store and will bring more choice for regular visitors to Bury and have the potential to attract more shoppers from further a field. Cotswold Outdoor Ltd is a dedicated walking, climbing, camping and action gear supplier, with a huge range of outdoor specialist equipment, clothing, tents and accessories perfect for those that like to undertake outdoor pursuits, whether rambling or dog walking in the gorgeous East Anglian countryside, more challenging sporting activities or a relaxing camping holiday. Majestic Wine Warehouse Ltd offers a large selection of beer and wine from across the world. Specialising in selling by the case, they have dedicated taster counters to try before you buy allowing you gain knowledge about the wine from the specially trained staff at the store, or you can pre-order and collect at a time convenient to you. The Bathstore supplies domestic bathroom suites, furniture and accessories, perfect if you are just looking for accessories or an entire new bathroom suite, simply order and collect from the store.
The retailers will be located on the site of the old Glasswells carpet warehouse within the World of Furniture, Glasswells are planning to relocate this warehouse to their dedicated storage and distribution centre at Kempson Way, where they are also investing in a 10,000 square foot extension and new forklift trucks. The extension will support their new Ipswich store (due to open at the end of 2008) and other branches, consolidate the storage of all furnishing, including carpet, create more space for commercial storage contracts and provide the means to accommodate future plans to sell items on-line via their website, where dedicated handling and packing areas will be set up. Whilst the new forklift trucks will allow the furnishing company to utilise all available space by narrowing the space between racking, thus increasing capacity even further.
Paul Glasswell, Glasswells Managing Director comments, “This is a great opportunity for the new retailers to benefit from the potential of Bury and will provide a greater shopping experience to all visitors, with multiple stores under one roof, easy access and plenty of on-site parking. Plus, the new retail outlets will benefit Bury as a whole, bringing more people to the area and complementing the existing town centre offering. In addition, the movement of our carpet warehouse to our central storage facility in Kempson Way will decrease the amount of large vehicle traffic to and from the World of Furniture store, which is fantastic news for the local people.”
Hans Falkenburg, Chief Executive at Cotswolds Outdoor Ltd comments, “We have chosen Bury St. Edmunds to be the regional hub for Cotswolds Outdoor and are really looking forward to introducing the people of Bury St. Edmunds and beyond to our huge product range. The Western side of the town seems perfect; it is easily accessible from the main A14 road and seems to have plenty of potential for business. The added benefit is being associated with Glasswells, we work to the same traditional values of providing outstanding quality products through exceptional one-to-one service so our businesses really do complement each other. With stores throughout the UK, Cotswold Outdoor will be delighted to add Bury St. Edmunds to our location map.”
The plans have been submitted for consideration by local councillors in the near future; both Glasswells and the potential three new retail outlets are keen to hear the outcome.