Manchester Arndale welcomes Søstrene Grene

The Scandinavian homeware, arts and crafts, and gift shop concept has taken up a 4,900 sq ft unit on a 10-year lease, replacing outgoing fashion brand Tessuti.

Metis Real Estate, which owns the Arndale, worked with Time Retail Partners to secure the deal. Hynes Illingworth Property Consultants acted on behalf of Søstrene Grene.

The Arndale is now 98% let with recent deals including lettings to PRO:DIRECT, Sephora, and Pure Seoul.

Steve Gray, head of European retail asset management at Global Mutual, which manages Manchester Arndale, said: [Søstrene Grene’s] unique offer and engaging store concept will add further variety to our retail mix, giving customers another reason to visit and stay longer.

“This letting is further proof of the demand we are seeing from leading brands from across different sectors keen to open flagship spaces in Manchester.”

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Søstrene Grene’s co-owner and group chief executive, Mikkel Grene, added: “We are very much looking forward to opening yet another store in Manchester, further strengthening our local presence and at such a prime location as the Arndale.

“We have been warmly welcomed by the local customers who seem to appreciate our aesthetically pleasing and affordable products and not least the store experience, so we cannot wait to open the doors and invite even more new and existing customers to explore Søstrene Grene’s wonderful world.”

Last week, plans to sell a 50% stake in the 1.96m sq ft Manchester Arndale were pulled, despite investor interest.

Sovereign Centros from CBRE on behalf of M&G Real Estate and Global Mutual are the joint asset managers of Manchester Arndale and New Cathedral Street.

Metis Real Estate and Time Retail Partners are the centre’s retained letting agents, with Green and Partners the retained lease advisory agents.

Søstrene Grene is expected to open before the end of 2025.