Writing instruments and accessories brand Cross has opened its first standalone store in the UK at Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.

The store is the first for the stationery retailer outside the US and will be followed by a second store at Cabot Place in Canary Wharf.

The store is a partnership between AT Cross, which owns the brand and Websters Pen Shop, which has a store at the Kent centre.

Cross pens are widely stocked in stationary retailers throughout the UK, but until now the company has not opened any stores, although it has used the concept in the US where it has about four stores.

Websters, a family business set up in 1972, has operated at Bluewater since its opening and has five standalone stores in the UK – all in the south of England.

Property agency DTZ acted for Bluewater landlord Lend Lease.

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