It will be one of the largest shop openings York has ever seen.
Go Outdoors has announced its grand opening at the Vangarde Shopping Park – and it is set to be quite a party.
As YorkMix reported, the Go York store is moving into the former John Lewis building.
It will open on Friday, 23 August when it becomes the biggest outdoor store in Europe.
This will be followed by a grand opening weekend on 7 and 8 September.
The store will then officially be opened by TV star Helen Skelton, who is Go Outdoors’ brand ambassador.
The celebrations will last all weekend. Free goodie bags will be given away to the first 500 groups of people entering the store on the Saturday.
There will also be demonstrations from brands such as Weber and Campingaz and the opportunity to meet with brand experts from Garmin, Adidas Terrex, Hunter, Montane, The North Face and Thule.
Face painters, balloon modellers and DJs will be showcasing their talents, and there’ll be prizes along with those goodie bags.
The record breaking store covers 125,000 sq ft with more than 380 brands covering walking, camping and caravanning, watersports, running, fishing, horse riding and climbing.
There will be more than 30 branded concession areas including the biggest Yeti store in Europe as well as a new Garmin store with the most extensive range on display in the UK.
The store will host the first ever Adidas Terrex in-store concession in Britain, along with Stanley’s largest store in Europe.
Go York will also house the biggest World of Weber concession with more than 30 grills on display. It will home a Whitestores Outdoor living store as well as Leisure Lakes latest cycling concept store.
The UK’s first Jessops discovery store is also opening in the Vangarde outlet.
New café
The outdoor superstore will also include a new concept cafe, Alpine Café, where customers can enjoy fresh meals made with locally sourced produce.
Centre manager at Vangarde Shopping Centre Deb O’Donnell said: “The new GO Outdoors store is a welcome addition to the Vangarde shopping centre.
“Not only does it provide a dedicated space for our outdoor-loving customers, but also provides a community hub where customers can relax, meet and enjoy their shopping time.
“We are excited to open the doors to Europe’s biggest outdoor retail store and welcome our new customers to the Go Outdoors York store.”
Go Outdoors will also be selling a range of new brands, including Sweaty Betty, Under Armour, Regatta X Orla Kiely, Crewe Clothing, Hunter, Spotty Otter, Thule and Karcher.
Lee Bagnall, CEO of Go Outdoors, said: “I am extremely excited and proud to open the biggest outdoor store in Europe. I am thrilled to be able to bring the very best brands, products and services to our customers in York, in our new game changing flagship store”.
The store has created 42 new jobs with 28 employees joining from the old Go Outdoors York store, moving out of Foss Bank.
Experts will also be on hand to assist members of the public with helmet, boot and backpack fittings as well as bike and kit repairs. There will be interactive concepts with OS reality maps and a dedicated mountaineering area.
For more information, including store opening times, go to the website here.