Best Buy chooses Aintree for UK push
Best Buy, the American consumer electronics retailer preparing to open in the UK, has signed at London & Stamford Property's Racecourse Retail Park in Aintree, near Liverpool.
Best Buy will start trading at the out-of-town park off the M57 in spring 2010. Its other stores will be at Thurrock in Essex, Merry Hill in the West Midlands and Hedge End near Southampton.
Raymond Mould, non-executive chairman of London & Stamford Property, said: "London & Stamford is delighted to welcome Best Buy to Racecourse Retail Park Aintree, further endorsing the solid trading potential of this park. The letting adds a further premium anchor store to the already strong tenant mix at Aintree, and will provide local visitors with a compelling reason to visit this location. We look forward to the opening of this new store."
Paul Antoniadis, CEO of Best Buy Branded Operations, said: "This announcement marks a further step forward in our plans to launch Best Buy in the UK this spring. The Racecourse Retail Park at Aintree is a fantastic location with easy access by car and train, and will allow us to bring our experience to customers living and working in the North West.
"We've received over 8,000 applications for positions in our first three stores, and I've been truly excited about the high calibre of people we've seen and the enthusiasm they've shown. I'm confident that we'll see that same passion and quality of candidates as we begin our recruitment drive in Aintree. We're encouraging people in the North West who are great communicators, keen to learn and are passionate about technology and more importantly, customer service, to apply at the company website."
Racecourse Retail Park Aintree comprises over 290,000 sq ft and is let to 13 tenants, including B&Q, Mothercare, Marks & Spencer, Next and Boots. The letting agents are Cushman & Wakefield and Savills.
The park is currently on the market to investors, less than a year after London & Stamford paid £60m to buy the asset from a subsidiary of Land Securities.
