Bury St Edmunds hailed after arc shopping centre openings

'Coming soon' signage for luxury brand Oliver Bonas has appeared in the former Topman and Topshop unit in the Arc Shopping Centre.

It comes just weeks after Phase Eight opened up in a new, larger store in the centre following a move from their previous Abbeygate Street site.

'Coming soon' signage for luxury brand Oliver Bonas (Image: Newsquest)

At the start of July, Deichmann shoes opened a store in the former Peacocks unit while in Primark moved into the former Debenhams in March.

Mark Cordell, chief executive officer at Our Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District, said: "The fact that a top national retail brand, Oliver Bonas, has decided to open a branch in Bury St Edmunds is tremendous news and huge boost for the town, as a whole as well as for the arc shopping centre.

"We hoped that with Primark opening in March other large brands would want to come to Bury and since then Deichmann have opened, Phase Eight have relocated into the arc and their unit is to filled by independent gift shop Lisa Angel.

Mark Cordell, CEO of Our Bury St Edmunds BID (Image: Newsquest)

"Clearly Bury is considered, by others, as a great place to run a business and we have many new independent businesses due to open soon to ensure that the town continues to provide a great diverse offering to the customers of our businesses."

Allan Hassell, manager at the Arc Shopping Centre, said: "We’re delighted to have Oliver Bonas join arc Shopping Centre and our great range of tenants, after the hugely successful recent store openings of Primark, Everyman Cinema, Deichmann and Phase Eight.

"This year we have seen a significant increase in our footfall of nearly 25% for the year to date, and it’s great to be part of such a beautiful town, with a fantastic range of major and independent retailers, restaurants, tearooms, coffee shops, leisure and culture.

"We thank all of our customers for shopping at arc and Bury St Edmunds and we look forward to welcoming even more new faces once Oliver Bonas is open."

Meanwhile, another shop in the nearby Sailmakers shopping centre in Ipswich has closed down.

Bargain Food Store, which opened on February 16, has shut.

Bargain Food Store has shut (Image: Tom Cann)

The shopping centre has had a turbulent 12 months, with shops opening and closing and the centre going up for auction twice, selling for £3.02m on both occasions.

Vitamin Bar closed in June this year, Poundland was earmarked to close earlier in the year, but they stayed open, and White Label, which took the unit over from Barnardo's on the ground floor, closing its doors recently also.

Ipswich Windrush Society was also asked to leave the centre in March this year.

The new owners for the shopping centre are not yet known.