As office workers return, Zara opens in heart of City of London

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Oct 20, 2021

In a boost that could help get the City of London, the capital’s key financial district, back up and running at strength, fashion retail giant Zara has opening a major flagship store there.

The store becomes one of the anchor retailers at One New Change, the 203,000 sq ft Landsec-operated premier retail and leisure destination on Cheapside, close to St Paul’s Cathedral.

The 23,000 sq ft store features the latest Woman and Man collections over two floors, and follows recent Zara openings across the Landsec mall portfolio at Bluewater in Kent and St David’s, Cardiff. 

Created by the brand’s in-house team, Zara One New Change “encapsulates the architectural philosophy of clarity, functionality, sustainability, and beauty” – featuring curved lines running through the space “to enable continuous engagement with the products on display”. 

The latest store and online integration features include ‘Store Mode’, which allows guests to purchase items through the Zara app and collect in-store within half an hour. This function also enables customers to book fitting rooms and locate items easily in store. There’s also an automated pick-up point for customers to collect online orders and self-checkout “to offer a seamless customer experience”.

Russell Loveland, Senior Portfolio Director for Landsec, said: “This opening comes at a great time for the increasing number of people who live, work, shop, and socialise at One New Change, and in the City of London more widely.”

Landsec referenced a City of London report by CACI and Location Sciences, confirming that, at the end of September, the area recorded its highest footfall levels since the start of the pandemic. The Cheapside area has also seen a 9% increase in visits over the past four weeks, and a 25% increase since the end of the last lockdown back in April.