Kennedy Centre fully occupied after arrival of new tenants
The Kennedy Centre in west Belfast has recently welcomed three new retailers after a recent upturn in the retail sector. Card Factory and JD Sports have both acquired new units with a further nationally known brand to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Card Factory has taken over a 2,000 sq. ft unit while JD Sports will be based in a 3,500 sq. ft unit. Card Factory is open for business and JD Sports will officially open at the end of June. The two retailers will bring 40 new jobs to the Centre between them. Cookie Box also recently opened their doors in the Centre has been well received by customers.
John Jones, Centre Manager for The Kennedy Centre, said: “The latest acquisition of tenants to the Centre means we are now at full occupancy. With the wide variety of retail stores and food outlets in the Centre we have something for everyone. The Kennedy Centre has a good mix of strong national retailers and local retailers who trade well alongside one another. Very few shopping centres offer this sort of mix.
He added: “The Centre not only appeals to the local community but now attracts customers from further afield. Our footfall figures have remained level over the last 12 month with a big increase occurring in the last five years. This is proof that our new tenants along with our existing line up of tenants are helping to continually attract visitors and increase sales. We’d like to thank all our customers for their continued loyalty.
“We have another retailer to be revealed shortly which will bring another national high street brand to the Centre and further enhance the tenant mix.”
Lambert Smith Hampton has played a key role in helping The Kennedy Centre acquire new tenants.
Ryan Kee, Director of Retail Agency at Lambert Smith Hampton, said: “The Kennedy Centre has been a phenomenal success story. We have continued to work closely with the Centre to reduce the number of empty units and improve the retail offer. There remain strong demand from retailers to get into the Centre and it is one of the few shopping centres in Northern Ireland that has little to no voids.
“The recent upturn in the market has seen retailers return to previously vacated units and once again our shopping centres are proving to be popular retail destinations.”
