Member Article

Costa Coffee spills into second store in the Merrion Centre

Costa Coffee is the latest tenant to occupy retail space in the Merrion Centre’s Arena Quarter Leisure Development. Costa, which has acquired a unit of 3,750 sq. ft, will open its doors for the first time on 4th December.

Town Centre Securities PLC, (TCS) has made a multi-million pound investment into developing the Merrion Centre’s Arena Quarter Leisure Development. This faces the First Direct Arena. Costa Coffee will join Pure Gym, MFA bowl and Cosmo at the 80,000 sq. ft, of leisure space which comprises 9 units.

There are over 1,500 Costa Coffee’s in the UK, nearly 100 stores within Yorkshire and Leeds is now home to nine. This latest addition to the portfolio has created nine jobs in the city centre. The new recruits, all of whom live in the Leeds area, have just graduated from a comprehensive training course at one of Costa’s academies.

The Costa unit in the Merrion Centre’s Arena Quarter Leisure Development will have strong street presence occupying an outdoor as well as indoor area designed to capture trade from Leeds First Direct Arena. For the first time ever, Costa Coffee will also use the premises to showcase a new large vinyl design featuring artistic drawings of coffee cups, providing an attractive and enticing view for all customers.

Julia De San Luis, Costa Coffee store manager states, “We’re proud to be opening a second outlet in the Merrion Centre. Consumers are becoming increasingly more discerning about their coffee, as a consequence, the popularity of Costa continues to grow. Our existing store in the Merrion Centre is our most popular Costa in Leeds. It benefitted from a re-image only 18 months ago enabling it to accommodate more trade and serve customers more quickly, it still gets incredibly busy though. There is huge demand for a second store in the Merrion Centre and we’re confident it will be just as popular.

“We couldn’t ask for better positioning. We see Leeds First Direct Arena as a lucrative neighbour, as well as serving our regular Merrion Centre customers, Arena attendees can enjoy a coffee before their show.”

Helen Green, Associate Director of Estates for Town Centre Securities PLC comments, “We are delighted that the Merrion Centre’s existing Costa Coffee is its most successful store in the city centre. It is a super endorsement of Merrion that Costa is seeking to build on that success and open a second store here in our shopping centre. We have seen some incredible footfall data through the Centre since the First Direct Arena opened and thus we share Costa’s confidence that the new Arena Quarter coffee shop will be just as popular as the existing Merrion premises. “

Not only is TCS commending new openings, but it is also celebrating existing tenants. MFA Bowl has just renewed its lease with TCS for another 25 years. MFA bowl has been an intrinsic part of the Merrion Centre for 49 years.

Christian Jackson, General Manager, MFA Bowl, comments; “Bowling is still a very popular activity and there is huge demand for it in Leeds. Our unit in the Merrion Centre is well populated and we see longevity within the Centre which is why we’re excited to have signed for another 25 years. The long term commitment will enable MFA Bowl to invest in the premises in the future. “

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Janie Readman .