Discount retailer TJ Hughes is to open 10 stores, part-funded by a share issue which will raise nearly £10m, the company said today.
TJ Hughes will also expand its Liverpool distribution centre as it prepares to take its number of outlets to 40. The move will create 500 jobs, taking the group’s workforce to 3,000.
New stores announced today include the conversion of three C&A branches at Glasgow, Romford and Hull. Further sites have been earmarked at Kettering, Southend, Scunthorpe, Redditch and Newcastle, while an announcement on two other shops at Maidstone and Coventry was made recently.
The expansion programme has been fuelled by figures showing that like-for-like sales were up 5.5% in the 14 weeks since the end of July. All store sales during the same period were up 25% despite the impact of fuel shortages, flooding and unseasonal weather conditions.
David Winterbottom, chairman, said today: “Value-for-money retailing continues to be one of the most vibrant parts of the retail sector. TJ Hughes’ organic expansion programme confirms its position as one of the leaders in this part of the sector.”
The store openings, which will cost more than £20m, will increase the company’s floor space by 47% to 130,060 sq m (1.4m sq ft) in 2002. A share offer is expected to raise £9.74m towards the expansion programme, which will begin with the opening of the three C&A stores in the spring. They were put on the market after C&A said it was pulling out of the UK retail sector.
The new outlets at Maidstone, Coventry and Kettering will follow later next year, with the remainder set to open in 2002. Other new store opportunities are also being investigated, the company added today.
A £3.4m scheme to upgrade the retailer’s distribution centre in Liverpool is set to begin in the spring and will support the firm’s growth for at least four years.
EGi News 17/11/00
