The Bradley Stoke Journal

Three further stores could open next month (August) at the Willow Brook Centre, Bradley Stoke’s new town centre shopping development.

The town’s first cycle shop, branded “Giant Cycles“, is set to open on Wednesday 15th August according to a source within the owning company, ZeroG.

The sizeable store, on the corner of the main mall building at the Bradley Stoke Way end of the development, was reconfigured several months ago to have additional external entrances.

In answer to reader comments made on an earlier Journal story, the company has confirmed that it will be offering a cycle repair service at the new outlet.

Elsewhere in the mall, fitting out of the new Card Factory store is well advanced. Willow Brook Centre Manager Scott Lahive says the firm is yet to confirm an opening date but it is expected to be “mid to end August”.

Fitting out of the new Specsavers store has also started and the company has already advertised for staff, including Optical Assistants and a Trainee Dispensing Optician.

Over in the new Retail Terrace, the Brantano shoe store opened for business on Wednesday 22nd July, one day later than planned due to an “overstocking issue” the previous day.

Animal superstore Pets at Home, now officially confirmed as a Willow Brook tenant after being revealed months earlier in The Journal, will occupy the remaining “under offer” unit (number 5) in the Retail Terrace. The company recently submitted a planning application for signage at the new store but fitting out is yet to commence.

The new Brantano shoe store at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre is to open next month.

Fitting out of the shop began earlier this week and posters put up on the doors today give the opening date as Tuesday 21st July.

Brantano was revealed by The Journal as a potential tenant in October last year.

The store occupies unit 2 in the new retail terrace at the development, despite the plan on the official Willow Brook Centre website showing it in unit 5.

The company has been advertising for staff for the new store since February and recently held a recruitment event at the Willow Brook Centre.

Pets at Home are thought to be likely to be the tenants of the only other “under offer” unit in the retail terrace.

Related Link: New Town Centre Jobs (The Journal)

Budget greetings card retailer Card Factory is to open an outlet soon at the Willow Brook Centre according to a low-key announcement on the centre’s official website.

The store guide on the website has been updated to show the new store occupying unit 6b, between the recently-opened Timpson shoe repair shop and the O2 mobile phone store.

The company, which sells greetings cards, gifts, plush items, novelties and gift wrap, has 480 stores nationwide and prides itself on delivering “quality products at value for money prices”.

A further announcement on the Willow Brook website confirms rumours (first revealed by The Journal in October 2008) that shoe retailer Brantano is to take a unit in the new Retail Terrace. Contrary to earlier indications, this will be in unit 5 rather than unit 2.

Brantano has been advertising jobs at its new Bradley Stoke store since February.  Animal superstore Pets at Home, which has also advertised vacancies, now looks likely to occupy unit 2.

Related Link: Jobs at the Willow Brook Centre (The Journal)

Bradley Stoke’s first-ever betting shop is set to open its doors to the public this Wednesday at the town’s Willow Brook Centre.

Fitting-out of the interior of the new Ladbrokes store is now complete and the all-important satellite TV equipment has been installed. Twenty flat screen TVs will bring live odds and sporting action to the punters of Bradley Stoke.

A countdown poster in the window of the new store suggests an opening on Wednesday 27th May, although this has not yet been confirmed by official sources. The opening comes in good time for some major sporting events over the next few weeks including the Champions League Final (27th May), FA Cup Final (30th May) and The Derby (6th June).

Elsewhere in the Willow Brook Centre, there is confusion over anticipated tenants of the new Retail Terrace after signs were switched over on two of the units. ‘Under offer’ banners appeared four weeks ago on units 3 and 5 but now the signs have been switched to show units 2 and 5.

Marketing literature shows unit 2 as being under offer to Brantano and that company has recently advertised jobs for its new store. The only other company currently known to be currently recruiting is Pets at Home, leading to speculation that fashion group New Look (also shown in the marketing literature) may have pulled out.

Ladbrokes apart, the new retailers seem in no hurry to open their stores. The units remain as empty shells, no fitting-out having been started since building firm Bowmer and Kirkland completed construction at the end of April.

Shoe retailer Brantano has begun advertising shop assistant vacancies for its new store in Bradley Stoke, which The Journal understands will be sited in the new retail terrace at the Willow Brook Centre.

The company advertised management positions at the new store back in February. Now it is looking for part-time sales supervisors and part-time sales assistants via listings on the Jobcentre Plus website.

Animal superstore Pets at Home recently advertised for full-time and part-time team member positions at its “Bradley Stoke New Store”, which might also be located in the retail terrace.

Elsewhere in the Willow Brook Centre, fitting out of the new Ladbrokes betting shop is well advanced and a large “opening soon” banner has recently been erected in the Town Square.

The new Taylors Estate Agents office will open in the Town Square (between Greggs and KFC) on Monday 11th May, while Bradley Stoke’s first-ever NHS dental practice, run by Phoenix Dental, is set to open on Monday 18th May on the first floor of the main Willow Brook Centre building.

The full list of new tenants in phase 2 of the Willow Brook Centre is due to be revealed soon, after banners showing which units are “under offer” appeared last month. Four of those units are in the shopping mall, which also houses the giant Tesco Extra store.

Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Jobs (The Journal)
• Willow Brook Centre Jobs (The Journal)