• Missguided to open first standalone store in Westfield Stratford City
  • The etailer wants to roll out a bricks and mortar proposition across the UK
  • Missguided will take the unit currently occupied by The Sting
  • The Dutch fashion retailer is pulling out of the UK

Young fashion etailer Missguided is poised to open its first bricks and mortar store at Westfield Stratford City, Retail Week can reveal.

Missguided will take on a 16,100 sq ft unit on the first floor of the shopping centre, which is currently occupied by Dutch fashion chain The Sting.

Sources told Retail Week that The Sting had relinquished its lease on the store as part of wider plans to pull out of the UK.

It is understood that retail property agency Harper Dennis Hobbs advised The Sting and is also believed to marketing the retailer’s 33,875 sq ft flagship on Regent Street, its only other store in Britain.

As revealed by Retail Week in January, Missguided is planning a UK-wide roll-out of stores and had set its sights on a London location.

It has already launched concessions at Selfridges in Manchester and with Nordstrom in the US.

The business drafted in former Abercrombie & Fitch UK property boss Richard Collyer on a consultancy basis and is thought to have appointed property agent Savills to identify locations across the country.

It is understood that the etailer had been mulling a prime location on Oxford Street, but pulled away from the deal after deciding it wasn’t “the right fit” for the brand.

Missguided, which is yet to respond to Retail Week’s request for comment, is among a number of pure play businesses that are increasingly looking at opening physical stores and showrooms.

Amazon, Ocado and Made.com are all aiming to take advantage of the branding opportunities and multichannel benefits that a bricks and mortar presence offers by launching space on high streets and in shopping centres.

Westfield, Harper Dennis Hobbs and Savills all declined to comment.

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