Italy’s Geox laces up Reading Oracle letting

Italian footwear retailer Geox has signed for its fifth UK store at The Oracle, Reading, as part of ambitious expansion plans.   Geox will take 2,280 sq ft on the lower level of Hammerson’s 764,000 sq ft retail and leisure scheme.   It has taken a 10-year lease at £228,000 pa. Fellow tenants include Dune and Zara.   The chain has three stores in the country with a fourth opening at the Trafford Centre, Manchester, at the beginning of August.   It plans to open stores at Westfield London in White City and Chelsea’s King’s Road by the end of the year andaims to have 20 stores in the UK by the end of next year.   A spokesperson for Geox said: “We are really concentrating on the UK. It is a big market and there is great potential for us to expand.”   Reid Rose Gregory is advising Geox on its UK expansion; DTZ advised Hammerson. annabel.dixon@rbi.co.uk