Urban Outfitters to open in former Habitat store

A MAJOR fashion chain is to move into the former city-centre home of one of York’s flagship stores. American clothing retailer Urban Outfitters, which says it has had its eye on the city for some time, has signed a 15-year lease to take over the “iconic” High Ousegate building which once housed home furnishings giant Habitat. The city’s Habitat branch was one of 30 stores which closed last September after the firm went into administration, with about 20 jobs being lost as all but three of its premises were sold off. The building covers 10,253 square feet in one of the city centre’s busiest shopping streets. The deal was signed by commercial property firm CBRE Retail, a division of the huge global real estate company CBRE Group, and its spokesman Tim Starling said today: “Urban Outfitters has had a long-standing requirement for York, and this iconic building fits the brand’s image extremely well.” The clothing chain sells men’s and women’s fashions as well as gifts and accessories and also has a boutique line. It has 21 stores in the UK, two in Dublin and seven throughout mainland Europe, but its arrival in York will give the company only its second Yorkshire branch, the other being in Leeds. Last year, Urban Outfitters announced expansion plans including nine new stores and two additional outlets for womenswear retailer Anthropologie, which it also owns, as well as enlarging its Free People brand which is sold on a wholesale basis through Harvey Nichols. It usually concentrates on two or three-storey buildings but said it would also be looking at smaller formats, adding that it could eventually grow to boast 50 British stores. More details about when work on the chain’s York store will begin and when it will open, as well as how many jobs may be created, are expected to be confirmed in due course.