By Ian McConnell
A FLAGSHIP “island” retail location on Glasgow’s Buchanan Street has been let to cosmetics chain Lush by London-based private investment company Old Park Lane Management for 15 years at a rent of £900,000 per year..
The building, at one stage home to bookshop chain Borders, has about 20,000 sq ft of space over five floors.
Real estate group Savills, which advised Old Park Lane Management, said: “This is one of Glasgow city centre’s most iconic buildings and will allow Lush to create a new global flagship store. The building extends over basement, ground and three upper floors, totalling circa 20,000 sq ft and one of very few island sites on Scotland’s busiest retailing thoroughfare.
“Lush will create an immersive retail and spa experience across several floors. The new Glasgow anchor shop will house some new concepts for the brand, along with a significant amount of innovative new products, combining beauty services with space for ‘Lush Parties’ and skin and hair care consultations.”
Ellen Peters, Head of UK and Ireland property at Lush, said: “We are thrilled to have acquired the most prominent shop on Buchanan Street as our first anchor store in Scotland, and we extend our thanks to everyone involved in the process. Collaborating with James [Cooksey] and colleagues at OPLM has been a breath of fresh air and we look forward to working together for many years to come.”
James Cooksey, chief executive at Old Park Lane Management, said: “We are delighted to have concluded terms with Lush to create their new flagship store. Ellen and the team have been fantastic to deal with and we much look forward to working together going forward.”
Stuart Moncur, head of national retail at Savills, said: “With this being one of the most iconic retailing opportunities within Glasgow city centre, we witnessed a great deal of occupier interest in the property. Since the start of this year we have seen strong occupational demand for stores on Buchanan Street and this letting to Lush really does highlight this. We are excited to see the investment Lush will make to the building and create a truly global flagship store. This letting comes on the back of a number of other recent lettings and we expect more to be announced shortly."
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