British fashion brand Sosandar is to open a store at the North East’s Metrocentre mall in October. Making its regional debut in the heart of the scheme, it will be the womenswear retailer’s third standalone store.

Located on the destination’s upper Platinum Mall, Sosandar’s 2,047 sq ft unit will sit alongside other womenswear brands including Phase Eight and Hobbs “bringing its feminine and chic aesthetic… stocking a wide range of womenswear and accessories”. 

The focus will be on providing “a fashion-forward, affordable, and high-quality selection of staple pieces designed for longevity”, it said.

Coming eight years after first launching as an online brand online, Sosandar is one of the fastest-growing women’s fashion brands in the UK having previously only traded digitally and as a third-party brand through major retailers like Next and M&S.

The latest move is part of a Sosandar’s wider bricks-and-mortar expansion across the country, it said, although full details of its plans have yet to be revealed.

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Co-CEOs, said: “We have a strict criteria of opening stores in top-tier, thriving locations where [our] customers over-index, and Metrocentre ticks all these boxes. Metrocentre has a reputation for hosting a versatile range of fashion retailers and we look forward to the official opening of our store in the coming months.”

And for mall owner/operator Sovereign Centros/CBRE, the brand’s Metrocentre debut “highlight[s] the destination’s ability to attract landmark stores for best-in-class brands, following significant recent investment from Zara, Frasers Group, Primark, and forthcoming arrivals Sephora and Mango”, it said.

The announcement follows the news of Mango’s imminent arrival on the Lower Red Mall later this year with a 6,233 sq ft space, becoming the brand’s largest store in the North East. It will sit adjacent to Jo Malone, and close to other Lower Red Mall favourites Zara, H&M, and “anchor brand” Flannels.