On March 15, leading British retailer River Island opened its first Swedish store in Stockholm City’s premier shopping mall, Gallerian. The internationally renowned brand launched to the market across a 1,170 m² flagship unit, testament to the center’s global reputation for providing prime space for leading high street retailers.
River Island will trade alongside Scandinavia's best performing Hollister, in the new extension to the south of the center that opened in 2011. It will benefit from Gallerian’s impressive daily footfall of 50,000 customers (18.2 million annually) and complement the center’s already thriving tenant mix of dominant names, including Vera Moda, Jack & Jones, H&M and Clas Ohlson.
Owned by Sweden’s second largest property owner and developer AMF Fastigheter, the center is renowned for providing prime retail space in a first-class city center location. Comprising 85 retail units, Gallerian is located only 600 meters from the central Stockholm train station and is easily accessible from two metro stations and multiple bus routes.
Karolin Forsling, Head of Retail and Development at AMF Fastigheter, commented: “Across the five centers in our retail portfolio, we have tailored the tenant mix to meet the demands of the distinct individual catchments. We see River Island’s iconic offer as a perfect match for Gallerian’s ‘fast fashion’ concept.
“There is currently unprecedented demand for prime space in central Stockholm, as both national and international brands look to tap into high consumer numbers and increased retail spend. Across our portfolio of central Stockholm shopping centers, we are continuing to review opportunities to meet this demand to the benefit of the 45 million customers who visit our centers on an annual basis.”
Since it was founded in 1948, River Island has become one of the most recognizable brands and now operates across 320 stores in 14 countries.
A spokesperson from River Island said: “We believe that Gallerian will offer us the best stage to launch to the fast growing Swedish market, with its impressive footfall and central location. A key focus for us at River Island is for fashion to be fun. Design is at the heart of our business and our entire product range is designed by our 100 strong in-house design team. We also work with up-and-coming designers delivering unique capsule collections to our customers each season, all of which will appeal to Gallerian’s trend conscious catchment.”
Source: Redwood Consulting
