B&M Bargains is set to open in Straiton later this Autumn, creating their third branch in Midlothian, whilst owners Peel plot fresh expansion.

The discount retailer B&M confirmed this week that they will be opening in units four and five on the lower tier of the Peel Pentland Centre, amalgamating the former Next and Brantano units.

Spanning 20,000 sq.ft. the new store will create 60 new jobs whilst offering shoppers an array of goods from home and furniture to groceries and gardening.

A spokesperson from B&M said:

We’re feeling really positive about the creation of even more jobs for local people and we hope customers are going to be delighted with their new store.

We are all really excited to get the doors open and welcome our new customers through the door in a few weeks.

B&M Straiton will open on Friday 3 November. It follows on from their new openings at Fort Kinnaird and Livingston.

Earlier this year the Cuckoo revealed the retailer’s intentions to open in the long vacant units in the retail park. However to obtain permission to open, they had to pledge to Midlothian Council that their current Penicuik and Dalkeith stores were not faced with closure in light of the creation of a centralised store in the county’s sole retail park. In a letter to the council, the property acquisition manager at B&M said:

There are no plans for either of the B&M stores at Dalkeith and Penicuik to be replaced by a new store at Straiton Retail Park.

However with a lease set to expire next year, fears remain that Penicuik’s anchor B&M may yet be under threat.

© Jason Lock Photography

Elsewhere in Straiton Retail Park, luxury furniture retailer Natuzzi Italia is preparing to open. Their letting means that the retail park has reached 100% occupancy for the first time in over a decade.

Plans are now in motion to let eight units in the proposed “fashion terrace” to allow for its construction in 2018. “The Terrace” will occupy vacant land opposite the flagship Next store, featuring two large 5,000 sq.ft stores flanked by six smaller units between 1,200 and 3,750 sq.ft. Peel are actively trying to attract fashion retailers like H&M and New Look to target the younger market who are still travelling into Edinburgh City Centre for the majority of their shopping. A planning application for the new development is forthcoming.

Approved plans to construct a department store and multi-storey car park on the lower tier of the development are yet to be realised, though Peel say they are committed to fulfilling their outstanding approved proposals.

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