10:36am Saturday 21st November 2009
By Richard Catton
A NATIONAL chain of designer stationery shops has revealed it is to open a branch in York city centre before Christmas.
Paperchase, which sells cards, paper and art materials will move into the former O’Neill clothing store in Coney Street, with an expected opening date of December 3. The York branch will be one of six new stores planned to be opened throughout the UK, adding to Paperchase’s100 other outlets nationwide.
A spokesman for the company said: “We are delighted to be opening our own store in York. We have been trading in the city for a number of years and are very much looking forward to presenting the full Paperchase offer.
“The store is likely to generate ten to 15 jobs in the area.”
The spokesman added the opening of the main store in Coney Street will not affect the Paperchase franchise in the nearby Borders store in Davygate.
The company is promising a full range of Christmas gifts will be available to shoppers in York following the opening next month.
The news that an empty shop premises in one of York’s main shopping streets would be occupied by Christmas was welcomed by City of York Council leader, Andrew Waller. He said: “It is good to have a positive experience of investment in the shopping streets of York and it will bring back in to use a building that hasn’t been used for a while.
“It joins the many new sites which have opened over a period which, for the rest of the country, has been a very difficult time.”
The company boasts a 40-year history and along with the six new stores in the UK, has launched what it describes as an “extensive opening programme” in the United States.
As well as its own stores, and nationwide concessions in Borders, the company runs outlets within selected House of Fraser and Selfridges shops. To apply for a position at the Coney Street store, visit paperchase.co.uk
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