Bluewater reveals new brands joining its line-up before Christmas
Bluewater has welcomed multiple new brands to the Kent-based shopping centre, ahead of Christmas, including sportswear retailer, Castore, British fashion brand, Whistles, and a range of Christmas pop-up stores. Mappin & Webb and LK Bennett have relocated to larger spaces within the centre, meanwhile pan-Asian restaurant Chi will be opening imminently.
Castore is located on the Upper Rose Gallery, next to Brown’s Jewellers, and opened at the end of November. The brand’s mission is to create expertly engineered precision sportswear for athletes worldwide. Bluewater’s Castore store hosts men’s and women’s performance-wear, alongside the McLaren and RedBull teamwear collaborations.
British contemporary fashion brand, Whistles has also opened at the centre and is located on the Lower Guildhall, next to Polo Ralph Lauren. It houses the brand’s womenswear collections, including shoes and accessories. The bespoke store is currently showcasing a curated edit of must-have pieces from the Autumn-Winter 23 collections, including partywear and gifting. Next to Whistles, fellow British fashion brand LK Bennett has opened its doors after re-locating within the shopping centre to a larger space.
Luxury jewellers, Mappin & Webb, has relocated and tripled the size of its Bluewater showroom, now located on the Upper Guildhall opposite the Apple store. There is a large Rolex room with dual entrances, one from the main concourse and via the Mappin & Webb main showroom. Every element of the interior design features the elegant Rolex aesthetic and radiates the values of the Rolex crown. There is a large Cartier room, with its dedicated front window, and client seating areas – born from the Maison’s intention to align the retailers-watch specialists’ image to the one of the worldwide Cartier boutiques, thus creating the perfect synergy between the two different contexts. Additional branded areas IWC, Hublot, Panerai & Girard-Perregaux each have highly trained specialists to advise clients on the history, and technical details of each timepiece ensuring they able to advise on the right timepiece to suit each client’s needs.
Alongside the new permanent clothing and accessories brands joining Bluewater’s line-up, guests will soon be able to enjoy the pan-Asian flavours of new restaurant Chi. The new eatery will be located in The Village, next to Carluccio’s, and the menu will cover everything from the aromatic spices of Katsu curry & the artistry of bao to the soulful donbori rice bowl. The brand’s first Kent store will be opening its doors before Christmas.
Bluewater has welcomed back multiple festive pop-up stores this Christmas, including guest-favourites and new offerings. Cambridge Satchel Company have opened a pop-up store, stocking their world-renowned bags until January. Their pop-up can be found on the Upper Rose Gallery, next to Starbucks Coffee.
James Waugh, Centre Director at Bluewater, said: “We are delighted to be offering our guests a wide variety of festive pop-up stores, and new permanent additions to shop this festive season. With something to cater for every taste, we’re sure guests will love all of our new additions, with some Kent-firsts in the mix too.”
Sam Draper, Associate Director of Retail at Castore, added: “We are excited to be opening at the premier shopping destination in Kent. Bluewater will be our 4th store in the South allowing us to grow our reach outside of London. The store will showcase our latest Men’s and Woman’s franchises such as Zone, Flow and Apex and our Teamwear offering including Mclaren and Redbull.”
Caraline Money, Global Retail Director of TFG Brands (owner of Whistles), commented: “We are excited to announce our newest standalone store opening in Bluewater, further expanding our store portfolio in the South East. We have built a loyal, ever-growing customer here, so it’s great we have more visibility in key locations throughout the county and wider region.
“Our new store strategy is focused on opening bigger, better stores on prominent high streets and within premium shopping districts like Bluewater to showcase the wider collections to our customers and enhance their shopping experience in-store.”
The store openings follow the recent return of Under The Rainbow to Bluewater, with their Winter Art Exhibition. Following the huge success of its previous pop-ups, this will be the largest exhibition yet, with over 80 creatives from the Southeast showcasing their artwork. Located on the Upper & Lower Guildhall, close to Zara, the two-floor exhibit is open daily until 30th December (excluding Christmas Day & Boxing Day).
Gift wrapping is now available at Bluewater until Christmas Eve on the Upper Rose Gallery, next to HMV. Meanwhile, Bluewater gift cards can be purchased at the Guest Services desk outside M&S on the lower level of the shopping centre. For more information, please visit www.bluewater.co.uk
