Following a successful year of store openings for The Range in 2018, the UK retailer has announced plans for many more store openings in 2019.
The Home, Leisure and Gardens specialist is currently going through a very busy period of expansion and will be taking over a selection of Homebase sites around the country. These Homebase stores have either had recent or planned closures taking place.
The Range takeover of these sites will allow for what would otherwise be an empty store to be reopened in peak retail centres around the country.
There are 7 Homebase sites that The Range are soon to take over:
• St Albans, Griffiths Way – Opens 1st March
• Aylesbury, Broadfields Retail Park – Opens 22nd March
• Wrexham, Plas Coch Retail Park – Opens 29th March
• Salisbury, Southampton Road Retail Park – Opens 29th March
• Hemel Hempstead, London Road – Opens 5th April
• Wakefield, Beck Retail Park – Opens 19th April
• Yeovil, Houndstone Park – Opens 28th June
The Range is also planning to open new stores in Glengormley, Northampton (former BHS unit) and Paisley during the first half of 2019 making it another busy year of openings for the team.
Each new store will provide around 80 new full and part-time jobs for the local area and is expected to providing a welcome boost to these locations. The continued growth and development of The Range, given the current economic challenges faced by the UK retail sector, is a mark of the entrepreneurial leadership of Plymouth-based owner and founder of the firm, Chris Dawson. He began life as a market stall trader across the South West of England before opening his first store in 1989 in Plymouth, under the name CDS (Chris Dawson Superstores) and has grown the company at an impressive rate ever since.
In addition to the former Homebase openings this year, The Range opened its destination superstore in its hometown of Plymouth last Friday, 8th February. The £25m project will see the retailer open a brand new 75,000 square foot store and a new Head Office. It has provided many local construction jobs during the build and will involve relocation all of the existing Head Office staff from another base in Plymouth. The new HQ will provide a training centre for the whole of The Range.
Chris Dawson commented on the upcoming openings: “With the current expansion plans in the pipeline for 2019, we are looking forward to another big year of growth and development. It is great that we are able to take over some of the closed Homebase sites, providing locals with an alternative location for all their Home, Leisure and Garden needs.
He added, “The opening of our destination superstore and new Head Office in our hometown of Plymouth is a great achievement for the company and one that I, personally, am very proud of as it’s where it all began 30 years ago. All this taking place during our 30th Anniversary year makes it another very exciting 12 months for The Range”.
Source : Insight DIY Team and The Range