Liverpool discount store chain to expand in south

Liverpool-based discount department store chain TJ Hughes plans to open “four or five shops each year for the foreseeable future”, according to property director Richard Foggin. It is part of the chain’s long-term programme to expand into the south.

SME Design Group in Southport, which has worked on each of the company’s existing stores for the past 15 years, is developing interiors, signage and frontages for the new shops.

TJ Hughes currently has 23 stores in the north of England and the Midlands. It is due to open an outlet in Wrexham in September and Middlesbrough in October. Sites have also been secured for shops in Crawley, Boscombe, Weston-super-Mare and Burnley, which will open next spring.

Foggin says: “We are looking at sites nationwide but I think there will be lots of opportunities in the south, because there is no existing quality discount operator there.”

SME design partner Stephen Edwards says basic store elements will remain the same, though things are “evolved and improved” on each new outlet. “There are improvements on every store as fashion trends and methods for retail trading have changed in recent years,” he adds.