The opening on Multrees Walk in Edinburgh was welcomed by Adam Stone, UK retail director at Nuveen, which operates the street, who said: “It is amazing that we are finally here and seeing it open.”
Mr Stone told The Herald in an exclusive interview how the company has developed the pedestrian precinct since taking on the operation: “We’ve been involved in the project for about two years now.
“When we took on the asset there were a few vacant units a result of the shopping centre being built across the road which actually was positive for us in general in what it created for the area.
“It allowed us to really start filling those holes. What we wanted to do when we came on board was be really thoughtful about how we did that and ask ourselves what Multrees Walk’s purpose is, and its purpose to our mind is to be a high-end shopping centre for not only Edinburgh but Scotland.”
Mr Stone said: “I think the lettings we have done over the course of the last year have involved a tenant line up that has certainly been true to that. We had the upsizing of Louis Vuitton, with a bigger store, turnover is strong, and a better offering now for the customer base.
“We had Michael Kors and the reconfiguration that went with that, and we’ve got hopefully some exciting news in the not too distant future about the unit next door to that. We’ve got Omega, who have all of their building warrants in place and we hope will start fitting out shortly. We’ve had Tag Heuer and Mappin and Webb to again solidify that high offer jewellery.”
He said: “The big news on the fashion front is Gucci, which is opening to the general public [on Friday].
“This is the only standalone, so not concessionary, Gucci store in the UK outside of London, which we think is brilliant, and we think is testament not only to Multrees Walk but to Edinburgh.
“The evolution of the city and the client base here supports the notion that there is demand for quality high end shopping offers in Edinburgh.
“We are delighted, we worked a very long time to secure that deal, and it is amazing that we are finally here and seeing it open.”
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Mr Stone also said: “Moving forward, our focus will be high end retail. We do get offers from retailers, some of which are financially very credible and strong offers but we don’t always look to move forward.
“For us getting the tenant mix right is really important.
“We hope that off the back of Gucci that will be a further catalyst for us to cement that strategy.”
Mr Stone added: “We also manage a unit on Prices Street which Uniqlo are in. I was responsible for that redevelopment and in a lot of cities you would have struggled to relet a department store of that nature but it has been a fantastic project.
“It has shown there is still demand for retail and there has been an introduction of lots of new uses in Princes Street, a lot of leisure based uses as well which I think will make the city a more vibrant place.”
A formal launch is expected next week.