Ocean Terminal defies crunch to win Beckham label

Published on Monday 11 May 2009 21:43

OCEAN Terminal is to let a prime retail site to designer streetwear brand Superdry.

The 6,000sq ft store – the first in Scotland – will be the largest in the UK, where the firm currently has just nine stand-alone shops. Superdry is to move into the three units formerly occupied by the Sky Restaurant on the centre's second floor.

Attracting the designer brand, that counts David Beckham among its celebrity clients, is a major coup for the Leith shopping centre, which hopes the new store will act as a magnet to other high-end retailers. Ocean Terminal is joint-owned by HBOS and Forth Ports, which last week reported its trading was "in line with budget" in the first quarter of this year, despite tumbling commercial property values.

Nicola Harmon, head of asset management for Forth Ports, said: "Superdry is an exciting brand and this new store – its largest in the UK – has the potential to be a real success."

She added: "While this would be a coup for the centre at the best of times, taking on a new retail operator of this magnitude in the current trading environment is quite extraordinary."

The new shop is set to open in August following a three-month refit of the premises.

Superdry, which has stores in 22 countries worldwide, is also on sale in concessions at House of Fraser and Cult.