Recent investment in the Keel Row Shopping centre at Blyth would appear to be paying dividends for as two national retailers take space.
New tenants include mobile phone operators EE who are leasing 2,000 sq ft alongside The Works, a national retail business specialising in art and craft materials, stationery, toys and books. The Works, who moved in last month, are occupying a unit of around 3,500sq ft in size.
Additional investment to the tune of £100,000 will shortly see the opening of a new café area at Keel Row. The new operator will be local family run independent, Caffè Ginevra who specialise in supplying Sicilian coffee both online and through its retail outlets. This Prudhoe based business is expanding to take on the new Blyth café premises which will be their second such outlet here in the North East.
“The Café will be the first food outlet to be introduced in the centre,” says Centre Manager Trevor Gyllenspetz. “The latest step in a programme of planned improvements being carried out at Keel Row, it will seat 30, bringing a new vibe to the place. I am confident it will quickly prove popular with our shoppers, increasing the time they spend in the Centre.”
Comments Michael O’Driscoll, Senior Asset Manager at Northumberland Estates “Keel Row seems to be bucking the national trend, with footfall at the centre well above the national average, and retailers reporting excellent on site sales figures. Occupancy rates are also above average for a town centre development of this type and our planned programme of improvements would seem to be paying dividends, drawing people into the town centre and at the same time providing a useful community resource for the town.”
