Dutch value retailer Hema has signed its first UK stores in the Southeast of England.

Hema will open a two-floor shop covering 4,300 sq ft in a former French Connection store in Kingston. The retailer has also signed for a store at Victoria Place in Victoria station in London. Both will open by the summer.

The shops will be the first of 10 in and around London for Hema. The retailer then plans to roll out across the UK.

Hema, which sells products across clothing, beauty, home and garden and food and drink, operates over 600 stores across the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

In the past year the retailer started offering new services such as health insurance and wills.

Hema is owned by Lion Capital, which acquired the company from Dutch retail group Maxeda in 2007. In 2012 the retailer generated sales of EUR1.2bn.

Hema could not be reached.

Property agent Harper Dennis Hobbs acts for Hema. CBRE acted for French Connection. Both property agents declined to comment.

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