Waterstones becomes 25th brand to recommit to Merry Hill in 2024

Waterstones has recommitted to Merry Hill, becoming the 25th brand to invest in the Dudley scheme in 2024.

The book retailer has updated its shop-fit and added a new shopfront at its two-storey branch near the scheme’s Leisure Quarter.

Waterstones’ renewal means tenants have committed to 110,000 sq ft of space at Merry Hill in 2024. Renewals formed more than half of these.

Other retailers which have recently recommitted to the scheme include jewellery brands Ernest Jones, H. Samuel, and Pandora, with the latter completing its store fit-out earlier this month. These deals take the total number of renewals at Merry Hill over the last three years to 92.

Merry Hill has also welcomed back to the destination the likes of OFFICE, Swarovski, and Accessorize, highlighting its growth in recent years. The scheme is also set to welcome Harvey Norman and XF Gym for their national debuts, as well as the first Sides location outside London and a shopping centre debut for Nike Unite.

Alistair Winning, asset manager at Sovereign Centros from CBRE, asset manager of Merry Hill, said: “2024 is shaping up to be another bumper year for Merry Hill. We’re really driving leasing momentum at the centre, welcoming 10 new lettings to refresh our tenant mix and 15 renewals, which have further strengthened the existing offer. It comes as no surprise to us because we know brands succeed here; Merry Hill’s effort ratio is much better than benchmark numbers for comparable centres, and the investment in creating a leisure quarter has energised more visits and longer dwell which all our retailers are benefitting from. We’re not finished yet, with the last quarter of the year set to see several anchor units open, not least the solution for the former Debenhams as Harvey Norman and XF Gym line up launches of their national debuts.”