A town centre landlord believes the opening of a new furniture shop is another boost to the “reinvigoration” of the area.
The new Sofa Brands Factory Outlet store opened on New Road in Chippenham on Friday, January 12.
It filled a unit that had remained vacant since the closure of the Enigma Rooms axe throwing and escape room centre in July.
Commercial property provider HPH, which owns and manages the premises, said the latest addition to the area is another step forward in reinvigorating the town centre following the pandemic.
“We’re delighted to see another exciting new outlet opening in New Road, following Coffee on the Corner and RajeshDai Grocery last summer”, said Lindsay Holdoway, HPH’s Managing Director.
“It’s great that a high quality retail business of the calibre of Sofa Brands has chosen this area. It’s a real vote of confidence for the town centre.”
The new factory outlet shop is just the second of its kind in the UK and will sell brands such as Duresta, G Plan and the Lounge Co direct from the nearby factory.
Sofa Brands’ B2C trading director Craig Lyus, originally from Chippenham, has previously told this paper he is keen to help “lift up” the retail offering in the town.
Following the opening of the shop he added: “We’re really excited about opening the outlet in Chippenham.
“Our sofas and chairs are premium UK brands, manufactured by us, and the outlet offers huge discounts of up to 70 per cent on pristine surplus stock.
“We make our G Plan models just down the road in Melksham so it was important to us to get a nearby retail hub and this unit was perfect in terms of scale and location.
“I’m from Chippenham originally and I really want to help drive resurgence in the town centre, it’s a rapidly growing town and its people deserve some great retail options.
“Hopefully we can tick one of those boxes.”
The prominent unit at 55 New Road is on the edge of the town centre and was formerly occupied by other large retailers, such as Allied Carpets and The British Heart Foundation.
Alongside the Brunel pub it is a modern extension attached to an older listed building, which was once home to the man who built Brunel’s Great Western Railway.
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