Global lifestyle brand, kate spade new york, is to open its first Northern Irish store in April 2022, at designer outlet, The Boulevard.
Taking prime position at the entrance of the Lotus Property-owned scheme, which is positioned on the A1 corridor between Belfast and Dublin, the 1458 Sq ft store will open April 2022, offering a range of product categories, including ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, small leather goods, tech accessories and jewellery.
The Boulevard store will be the brand’s second outlet on the island of Ireland, but its first venture in the Northern Irish marketplace.
The deal signals a growing confidence among brands in the Irish consumer as retail activity on the island overtakes pre-pandemic levels, with outlets in particular having outperformed their high street and in-town shopping centre counterparts.
Chris Nelmes, Retail Director at The Boulevard, said: “We’re excited to welcome kate spade new york to The Boulevard, which has continued to go from strength-to-strength as we come out the other side of the pandemic. We have consistently bucked the national data, which has pointed at a downturn in discretional retail spend. Instead we have welcomed more visitors than ever before, had some of our best sales months on record and onboarded new tenants.
kate spade new york is the latest retailer to set up shop at The Boulevard, which has benefitted from £10m investment in recent years, joining the likes of New Look, Molton Brown, Joules, Crew Clothing, Nike, Adidas and Levi’s.
Lotus Property was advised by Johnstone Property Consultants and KLM Real Estate Ltd.
Dominic Brady from KLM Real Estate said: “kate spade new york is notoriously selective with its outlet expansion so we are delighted to welcome the brand to the scheme. It is proven to attract a premium shopper so this letting will pave the way for other game-changing brands to join us. kate spade new york at The Boulevard is a unique proposition in Northern Ireland and we are very excited to see it open in 2022”
