Westfield is close to securing a raft of lettings at its 1.5m sq ft Stratford City shopping centre in east London.
The deals will be the first at the mall since 2006, when the Australian developer signed John Lewis and Marks & Spencer as its anchor stores.
US fashion brand Forever 21 is in talks to open a store of more than 50,000 sq ft at Westfield, one of its first in the UK, while lifestyle fashion chain Esprit is close to signing for a 10,000 sq ft shop. Fashion retailer H&M is eyeing a 30,000 sq ft shop.
Value fashion retailer Primark, Next, River Island, furniture retailer Habitat, Boots and newsagent WHSmith are all also understood to be in advanced talks with Westfield.
Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group is in negotiations to take several brands – including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis – to the centre when it opens in 2011.
A spokeswoman for the developer said: “There is a strong and growing level of interest in our Westfield Stratford City project, as retailers get a sense of the strategic nature of the scheme, the outstanding transport connectivity and the lack of new supply coming onto the market.”
Andrew Bradley, partner at retail agent Hartnell Taylor Cook, said: “There is an element of retailers taking a view now because of the Olympics. I think they would be very reluctant to commit without major incentives if it weren’t for the Olympics providing a unique catalyst. I just hope that, once the Olympics have finished, Westfield Stratford City will be a sufficiently big destination in its own right to prosper.”
CB Richard Ellis and DTZ are letting agents at Westfield Stratford City.
