Newbie takes first steps out of London with centre:mk opening
Joint owners of centre:mk, Hermes Investment Managementand AustralianSuper, have announced that Swedish lifestyle brand for children, Newbie, has opened its first permanent store outside of London with the centre, whilst also selecting centre:mk for the first stop of its successful pop-up, Newbie on Tour.The opening also coincides with the return of centre:mk’s beach activation for the tenth year in a row.
Spanning a 1,377 sq ft unit, Newbie is located at 3 Sunset Walk, next to Oliver Bonas and Costa, showcasingits sustainable and affordable fashion offering for children. The brand’s centre:mk store is one of two standalone locations outside of London, and the signing of the brand prompted Newbie’s successful commercialisation pop-up at centre:mk last month –Newbie on Tour. The pop-up was part of a countrywide tour to stretch Newbie’s reach across the UK.
Due to the popularity of the pop-up, Newbie on Tourreturned to the centre for a summer residency at The Beach in Middleton Hall. The centre has hosted the UK’s largest ‘beach’ within an indoor shopping destination. This year’s summer activation achieved a 5% increase in footfall year-on-year from featuring a whole host of attractions including Punch and Judy shows, bungees, train rides, and an indoor rollercoaster.
Ed Sellick, Asset Manager, Hermes Investment Management, on behalf of centre:mk joint owners, commented: “Newbie’s sustainable collection adds great value to the centre’s growing line-up of childrenswear, and appeals to shoppers that follow brands’ ethical behaviours - identified as ‘Hero Hunters’ within our Future Shopper report.
“At centre:mk we recognise that consumers are becoming more conscious of what they are buying and are choosing brands that they want to be identified with. Welcoming Newbie to the centre responds to our customer’s buying behaviour and in turn Newbie’s choice of centre:mk for both their regional debut and first tour location highlights that this destination is the place to be to engage with conscientious consumers. We are committed to installing interactive ways to engage with our retailers and visitors, as evidenced by Newbie’s pop-up presence at centre:mk’s beach.”
Camilla Wernlund, International Expansion Manager, Newbie added: "Newbie continues to grow within the UK, with centre:mk being the first store outside of London and being the ideal destination for our next step. We were delighted with the response from Milton Keynes customers when we brought Newbie on Tour to the centre and we are thrilled to be continuing our relationship with the team for both our permanent store and returning pop-up and being able to move closer to our Newbie lovers in Milton Keynes.”
Part of the KappAhl Group, Newbie was born in 2010 and has quickly expanded across Europe. Today Newbie has 22 stores and online sales in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland and the UK. Priding themselves on their timeless design with a modern twist, the brand is one of the fastest-growing sustainable childrenswear brands on the market.
This news follows the recent signing of Skechers, alongside several latest openings at centre:mk including Typo, Trailfinders, Lovisa, Morano’s and Snappy Snaps.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Aver:
· Amanda McNally on 07495 461573, or via amandamcnally@averpr.com
· Yasemin Kiani on 07932 036085, or via yaseminkiani@averpr.com
Notes to Editors:
About Hermes Investment Management
Hermes Investment Management, a Federated Investors company, provides world-class active investment management and stewardship services. Hermes, headquartered in London, manages £36 billion in assets and offers a broad range of specialist, high-conviction investment strategies spanning listed equities, credit, real estate, infrastructure, private debt and private equity. Hermes’ strategies focus not just on financial results, but also on delivering outcomes beyond performance: holistic returns that consider impacts to society, the environment and the wider world. In Hermes EOS, the company offers one of the industry’s leading engagement resources, representing £501 billion of assets*. For more information, visit www.hermes-investment.com.
* Please note the total AUM figure includes £6.6bn of assets managed or under an advisory agreement by Hermes GPE LLP (“HGPE”), a joint venture between Hermes Fund Managers Limited ("HFM") and GPE Partner Limited. HGPE is an independent entity and not part of the Hermes group. £23.6m of total group AUM figure represents HFM mandates under advice. Source: Hermes as at 30 June 2019
About AustralianSuper
AustralianSuper manages more than AUD$160 billion of members’ assets on behalf of more than two million members from across 280,000 businesses. One in 10 working Australians is a member of AustralianSuper, the nation’s largest industry super fund.
About Newbie
Newbie’s story began in 2010 when designers at the Swedish fashion chain KappAhl created a collection of baby clothes. Newbie’s collection are timeless, sustainable and affordable and the clothes are designed to be handed down from one generation to the next. Newbie came into being at just the right time and quickly went viral. Many “Newbie Lovers” took the brand to their hearts. Their passion for Newbie has influenced both the design and the range. The first Newbie Store opened in Stockholm in 2014 and today Newbie has 22 stores and online sales in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland and the UK. The Newbie brand forms part of the Swedish fashion group KappAhl.
Newbie puts an emphasis on sustainability, quality and design, and most of its clothes are made of organic cotton. Any non-cotton materials come from sustainable or recycled sources. For Newbie’s designers, sustainability isn’t only about the materials used, but the garments’ life cycle: their design approach, involving patterns and colours inspired by nature, has been developed to create garments that won’t age and that can be passed down and loved generation after generation.
All Newbie Stores are designed to create a shopping experience that reflects Newbie’s values, including the use of sustainable materials and natural materials in store interiors. The stores are all cashless and feature textile collection containers for recycling, as well as collection points for online orders.
Newbie has UK stores in Bluewater, Richmond, Northcote Road Clapham and Westfield White City and now Milton Keynes.
In 2018, Newbie won a Little London Award for Best New Brandand a Junior Design Award for Best International Newcomer.
For PR enquireris relating to newbie please email ellie.hall@tcs-uk.net