Blacks Outdoor, the UK’s leading retailer of Outdoor Clothing, Footwear & Equipment, has signed at the Sauchiehall Building, 165-197 Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.  The building, which was formerly known as the Sauchiehall Centre, was acquired by KKR and Quadrant Estates in March 2015 and is the subject of major refurbishment plans.

Blacks Outdoor has signed a new 10-year lease on a 4,286 sq ft basement unit of the Sauchiehall Building, having previously traded in the same unit on a licence basis since its pre-pack administration and purchase by JD Sports in 2012.  The business will now trade the unit under the Millets’ brand. With over 90 stores nationwide Millets is known as the destination for camping and outdoor adventure gear on the high street.

Millets is the latest brand to sign at the Sauchiehall Building.  In September 2016 Chilango, the leading Mexican burrito bar chain, signed a 15-year lease on Unit 24 on the ground floor of the western corner of the Sauchiehall Building and will be the chain’s first restaurant opening in Scotland. 

Millets will sit alongside other major retailers including Primark, TK Maxx, Sports Direct.com, Superdrug and WH Smith, and leisure operators such as Chilango and Smashburger.  All of these tenants benefit from an annual footfall of almost 17 million created by the adjacent office core, leisure circuit and critical mass of large format anchor retailers in the pitch.

Vanessa Buchan, associate partner at Quadrant Estates, the asset managers of the Sauchiehall Building, said:  “We’re delighted that Millets has chosen to sign for a permanent lease at the Sauchiehall Building.  It is the latest in a strong line up of major brands opting to trade at the Sauchiehall Building, and demonstrates the confidence Millets and our other tenants have in both our scheme and indeed in the viability of Sauchiehall Street.  As the asset manager, we are confident that our continued enhancements of the Sauchiehall Building will create an exciting and vibrant leisure hub, helping to attract greater footfall, and put Sauchiehall Street firmly on the map as a top retail and leisure destination.”

The Sauchiehall area is set to see further improvement following the opening of two new hotels, namely the adjacent Hampton by Hilton on Bath Street and the Dakota Deluxe on West Regent Street. Furthermore, the location is set to increase its offering to tourists following the proposed redevelopment of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Willow Tea Rooms and the proposed re-opening of the McLellan Art Galleries.

The recent developments at the Sauchiehall Building and its immediate environs demonstrate Sauchiehall Street’s underlying fundamental strengths – including the highest and most stable footfall in the city and its proximity to the Central Business District, transport hubs, cultural attractions, hotels, educational institutions and student accommodation – which ensure that the pitch remains highly attractive to major national leisure and retail operators.

Paradigm Property Consultants and Montagu Evans advised KKR and Quadrant Estates.  Millets was represented by Appleton Craig.