Zara takes on former Topshop store in Leeds

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 15, 2023

Zara has been opening a series of flagship stores in the UK and the latest will be at Trinity Leeds where it’s taking over the former home of Topshop.

The Inditex-owned label will upsize and relocate into the centre from its current location on Briggate. The new 46,000 sq ft store will feature Zara’s Woman, Man, and Kids collections.

And it will include the latest technological innovations from Zara's integrated online and physical store platform that it has been rolling out in other flagships. The aim is “to guarantee customers a seamless shopping experience” in support of Inditex’s target of opening “bigger, better and more beautiful stores in the best retail destinations globally”.

Trinity is the key mall in Leeds city centre and claims to be the leading shopping destination in the region. 

We’ve seen plenty of evidence of how such malls are among the big winners from the resurgence of physical shopping post-pandemic, although some still have empty spaces due to the large number of brand closures that happened as a direct result of the Covid crisis. Former Arcadia Group sites can be a particular problem as many of them were large and grouped together in shopping centres, so attracting one of the global big-hitters like Inditex is good news.

Landsec, which operates Trinity Leeds, said: “Increasingly, Brands are responding to evolving shopping habits by focusing on high-performing spaces, meaning that flagship, catchment-dominant destinations like Trinity are becoming even more attractive. Zara follows a number of brands including Levi, Space NK and Nespresso who have chosen to relocate into Trinity from elsewhere in the city as the flight to prime intensifies.”

And its Head of Brand Account Management Nik Porter added: “As guests demand more from their shopping experience, brands are prioritising prime locations that drive footfall, enable customer service and have an ability to integrate in-store and online shopping experiences. Our retail strategy allows us to work in partnership with brands holistically to find them the best locations and ensure that their physical presence adds value to their wider multichannel offer.”