Hammerson announces Australia's best known children's stationery brand, Smiggle, is to make its Scottish debut at Silverburn shopping centre. The 960 sq ft store is expected to open in March and will be located alongside Next and Zara.

Smiggle, with its range of colourful, fun, fashion-forward stationery has proved popular in the UK, resulting in the brand's considerable growth since arriving in 2014. 48 stores are currently in operation with up to 250 stores expected to open in the UK in the next five years. Already a key part of the tenant mix in a number of Hammerson's 10 UK leading retail destinations, Smiggle selected Silverburn, Glasgow's dominant retail, dining and leisure hub, for its all-important expansion into Scotland.

Bolstered by the launch of its £20 million, 100,000 sq ft dining and leisure extension last year, Silverburn has continued to perform exceptionally well, reporting a 21% increase in dwell time, and lifting like-for-like centre sales by 5%, as at November 2015.

Kate Orwin, Head of Portfolio Leasing at Hammerson, commented: 'This new signing is a great start to 2016 at Silverburn and we are looking forward to welcoming Smiggle to the centre. An exciting international stationery brand, providing a unique range of accessories is the perfect fit for our shoppers at Silverburn and we are confident it will be a very popular addition to the centre.'

Managing Director of Smiggle, John Cheston, added: 'Silverburn was our first choice when we were looking at sites in Scotland and we are delighted to be amongst very good company of strong retail brands. The new leisure extension was also a key factor in our decision making and we are excited to be opening in such a well performing destination.'

CBRE acted for Hammerson and Harper Dennis Hobbs acted for Smiggle.

ENDS

Hammerson plc issued this content on 10 February 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 February 2016 09:52:29 UTC

Original Document: http://www.hammerson.com/media/press-releases/smiggle-debuts-in-scotland-at-silverburn/