HIGH street giant Next is set to open its biggest new store of 2010 in Southampton.
The Next Home store will open at West Quay Retail Park in early August, a spokesman for the retailer confirmed.
A new Starbucks café will also operate on the first floor of the huge 15,000 square foot outlet.
The high street fashion retailer declined to discuss the number of jobs set to |be created, but the Borders store on the site previously employed 50 and it’s |likely Next would need even more.
Next Home Southampton will stock a mixture of furniture, kitchenware, tableware and domestic appliances.
The store will also sell fashion label’s children’s wear range.
An exact opening date has to be decided, but the construction work is scheduled to finish in the first week of July.
Borders closed in December after administrators failed to find a buyer for the collapsed chain.
About 50 staff were left jobless just days before Christmas.
West Quay Retail Park manager Shaun McGillivray said: “There was a lot of parties interested in the site.
“It’s a premium location with an Ikea on the doorstep.
“But Next is the best we could have hoped for.
“Next is a brand everyone knows.”
Latest figures show there are 141 vacant shops in Southampton, which is almost 100 more than two and half years ago, but six fewer than last month.
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