Electronics retailer Maplin will officially set up shop in Perth next month, it has been confirmed.
As part of a £250,000 investment, the firm will open a store at St Catherine’s Retail Park on February 22, creating 12 jobs.
The unit, formerly occupied by Dreams, is being transformed into a local base for Maplin, which sells electronic equipment.
Store manager Steve Graham said: “We’ve worked really hard over the past few months to recruit and train our team.
“We aim to provide customers with the highest level of expertise for all their electronic demands and I’m confident that our in-store experts will be able to do just that. The team is all fired up and ready to go.”
For the last few months work has been ongoing to upgrade the dated buildings within the retail park, which was built in the 1980s, and it is hoped that more high-profile businesses will be attracted to Perth.
Over the last 12 months, significant improvements have been carried out to the car park and to create pedestrian walkways on the north side of the park.
Site owner Episo Boxes GP Ltd also plans to widen the scope of goods that can be sold in the park.
An application was made to the local authority to modify the planning consent on the former MFI premises, which have lain empty for several years.
It recently won approval from the council to relax strict criteria imposed on the properties, specifically to allow the sale of convenience goods, including food.
Planning and development consultants Muir Smith Evans, acting as agents for Episo Boxes GP Ltd, had revealed that a retailer was interested in taking on the unit and that their client was close to concluding “significant” new lettings, which would help drive the regeneration of the retail park.
The applicants also gave assurances that plans to attract a “quality” food retailer to a separate unit within the park would not be affected by these proposals.
There are also plans to sub-divide the old B&Q store into five new units.