The Ridings: A dozen new shops set to open this summer, new owner announces

Business is set to boom at The Ridings as the shopping centre announces more than a dozen new stores, set to open over the coming months.

The shopping centre has recently come under new ownership, after being bought in March by Zahid Iqbal, a Leeds entrepreneur and owner of ZH Properties, which redeveloped the boutique Batley Plaza in neighbouring Kirklees, for an undisclosed amount.

Now, Zahid has announced a variety of shops are set to open in The Ridings over the next two months, with the hope of bringing business back to the once award-winning shopping centre.

This month, Tattoo Journey, a tattoo and piercing shop, is set to open in the upper mall, as well as Bella's Children's Boutique GB in the lower mall. Also currently being installed is the Wakefield Watch Repair & Sales store, which is expected to open in late June, with dates set to be confirmed soon, in the middle mall.

Also in June, The Ridings’ popular FRESH Smoothie Bar is set to relocate to a bigger unit in the upper mall, from the lower mall, following its success in the centre.

More named stores set to launch soon, with opening dates yet to be announced, are Escapable - Escape Rooms, on the upper mall, and Dixons Milk Ices Official, an ice cream shop, on the middle mall.

Also set to open within the next two months are seven shops which are currently unnamed but are confirmed to be joining the shopping centre.

They are a chicken wing restaurant in the Garden Kitchen, a pizza restaurant in the Garden Kitchen, a designer menswear store in the middle mall, a sweet shop in the middle mall, a ladieswear store in the middle mall, a nail bar in the middle mall and a fried chicken restaurant on Kirkgate.

Zahid said: “We are extremely pleased with the uptake of new businesses coming into the scheme. Our strategy of lowering rents and the centre service charge is really paying off.

"We are in constant talks with businesses and we do still have a small number of units available, from 591 square metres up to 6,877 square metres, and with our low rents and reduced service charge, now is the time to come on board."

More information and source here: The Ridings: A dozen new shops set to open this summer, new owner announces | Wakefield Express