Last updated 14:20, Monday, 21 July 2008

AROUND 150 jobs will be created when a new superstore opens in Barrow.

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

Recruiting interviews will begin in the next few weeks for the store, which is planned to open on October 10.

It is another boost for Barrow’s economic microclimate in which local unemployment is falling while nationally it is rising.

Chris Dawson, founder and managing director of the group, said: “We are spending £1.7m on that building and will probably reclad it.

“We are creating 150 jobs because we are open from nine in the morning until eight at night, so there are two shifts.

“We have been pleasantly surprised by Barrow. We have had an amazing response from the council and from the JobCentre there, a much better reception than we get in some places.

“So well done Barrow, they deserve the inward investment. We love the town.

“We only wish we could have a bigger store.”

The building it is taking over has 31,500 sq ft of selling space and is expected to cost the group around £500,000 a year in rent and rates.

Mr Dawson said: “There are the jobs and we are there for the for the long haul, and we will invest in the infrastructure base.

The group opened a Carlisle store a year ago and say its sales are “flying”.

The Plymouth group is negotiating the final details with B&Q which still has 11 years of lease to honour on the Abbey Road site which belongs to the locally owned development company Flightpike.

The store will have 16 different departments selling everything from arts and crafts to caravans, tents and flowers.

Mr Dawson said: “We do everything. You can get lost in our stores.”

The company is described at the top end of the mid-market and has 65,000 different products.

Mr Dawson said: “I suppose we are Britain’s answer to IKEA.”

The group is in the process of opening six new stores and saysit is actually cheaper to open during a credit crunch style recession because contractors are easier to get and have to be more competitive.

He said some local buses will turn orange and blue as part of a The Range advertising campaign.

Research told the firm the spend per head in the Barrow area is one of the best outside London.

The Range will compete with B&Q, which has a huge new store at Cornmill Park.

The Range is part of Plymouth based group CDS (Superstores International) Ltd which has 37 superstores and annual sales of £200m.

The store’s range of goods includes everything for home and garden, from arts and crafts, home furnishings, to DIY products, houseware, furniture, pet care and a garden centre.

Details of the Barrow store are already on The Range website www.therange.co.uk