CWMBRAN CENTRE TO WELCOME DUNELM THIS AUTUMN

Leading homewares company Dunelm is opening a store in Cwmbran, it is announced today.

Dunelm will be opening in the former Marks & Spencer store at 5 South Walk, at Cwmbran Centre, after agreeing a 10-year lease with national commercial property and investment company LCP, part of M Core, which owns and manages the centre.

Since M&S closed in May 2019, it has been occupied on a temporary basis by One Below, which is moving to a permanent base at 2-4 Monmouth Walk.

The homewares store has not yet stated to fir out the 51,000 sq ft store, but it is expected to open sometime this autumn.

Alex Williams, of LCP, said: “We know from the regular customer feedback we carry out that the Dunelm announcement will be welcomed by shoppers.

“Attracting Dunelm to the centre is a huge coup and we’re absolutely thrilled it has committed to opening here. We are looking forward to it opening later this year.”

Will Thomas, partner at KLM Real Estate, which jointly lease the scheme for LCP with EJ Hales, said: “This is a major letting for the town centre and is the first of several key transformational deals we are working on. Cwmbran continues to buck the trend with rising footfall and performance. Dunelm are a great fit for the town.”

It is the latest in a string of new tenants at the centre, which is seeing increased footfall every month, thanks to the increased number of shops opening. Since LCP took ownership of the centre in 2021, it has increased occupancy to 95% - its highest rate in the past five years – and last year it recorded footfall of 19.75 million people– an 8% increase (1.5 million) on the previous year.

GCW acted for Dunelm.