Local
New outlet village extension at Plaza Mayor is nearing completion
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The Malaga Designer Outlet, near the airport, is being built by British developer McArthurGlen and may open as early as November
The British developers behind the first luxury fashion outlet village in the south of Spain have been giving the latest update on the project that is due to open as early as November.
Bosses at McArthurGlen said that "all openings are special, but we have high hopes for this one".
The outlet mall will be an extension to the existing Plaza Mayor mall owned by Sonae Sierra close to Malaga Airport. The new fashion outlet area will start with around 100 stores on a 17,500-square-metre site. Full details of the brands that will open have not been released yet but names expected to be present include Michael Kors, Armani, Versace, Prada and Bulgari. Confirmed names so far include Diesel, Lacoste, Antony Morato, Roberto Verino and Ralph Lauren.
Operators typically offer discounts of between 30 and 70 per cent on high street prices found elsewhere.
" We've noticed that brand names are keen to be in Malaga because of the mix of the local population and tourism," says José Luis Arenas, national operations director.
Malaga Designer Outlet centres on an oval-shaped plaza with a pagoda that will house a restaurant. There will be two main access routes and links to the existing Plaza Mayor shopping and leisure centre. One zone will focus on higher-end brands.
McArthurGlen doesn't think that the new stores will do damage to the existing business at adjoining Plaza Mayor. "The customer that wants two pairs of trousers goes to the shopping mall, while the outlet customer comes to browse and look for deals."
London-based McArthurGlen is in ten countries. In the UK, it includes well-known outlet villages at Cheshire Oaks, York, Ashford and Swindon, among others.
