Two major brands have announced plans to open in Stirling’s Thistle Centre, but what does this mean for the health of the city centre?
Clothing retailer H&M is making its grand return in 2025 after a five year absence, occupying part of the former Debenhams department store.
Coffee giant Starbucks will open its first city centre location, taking over the former Carphone Warehouse unit, later this year.
Current favourites – including Schuh, CeX, Perfume Shop, Clarks and Fat Face – have renewed and extended leases in the centre.
Mark Hewett, director at asset manager Scoop, says these long-term contracts are a sign of “commitment” to Stirling, will bring local jobs and boost footfall in Thistles.
The brands are investing in a city presence, with building warrants lodged with Stirling Council valuing the fit out of H&M’s unit at £1,100,000 and Starbucks’ conversion of a retail unit to serve food and drink at £120,000.
It comes as the city is set to enter a new era. The transformational Craigforth Campus redevelopment has been backed by councillors, Asda has been given permission to build a supermarket near Springkerse Retail Park, and Stirling Studios is set to host the next generation of film talent at the former Forthside MoD site.
H&M could draw in other retailers
For Leigh Sparks, a professor of retail studies at Stirling University and chair of Scotland’s Town Partnership, the announcement is “positive news”.
Many people in Stirling are hoping for Zara to return, or other big brands to take up residence; Professor Sparks does not rule it out.
“If you think about the population of Stirling and you think about the demographic, we’ve got 17,000 students here at the university,” said Professor Sparks.
“Catering to particular segments of the population in particular ways is important and H&M, I think, is a signifier of that and it’s possible, therefore, people will look at that and say if they’re going there, there must be an interesting market there, maybe we’ll have a better look at Stirling as a consequence.
“So, there may be other brands, other independent retailers, that will have some confidence that actually they can benefit from the draw of a big brand.”
Stirling has reinvented its city centre post-pandemic
But most importantly, Professor Sparks says, Stirling must be viewed as a place as a whole and the opportunities that come with the location.
Events – such as Stirling Highland Games, monthly markets and the Bloody Scotland Festival – gives “confidence for businesses”.
He said: “We are having to reinvent our towns and city centres because it’s a recognition that retailing is affected by online, by out of town locations.
“And therefore, it’s about what uses can we bring into town more generally and how do we get different groups of people coming to a town at different times so we get football in all sorts of ways.”
While some might be quick to suggest it’s a sign of Stirling “bouncing back” from the pandemic, Professor Sparks explains that it’s a “different offering” that has adapted to challenges both before and after 2020.
He said: “What the owners and the managers of the Thistles have done, what’s happening in the streets outside the Thistle Centre, is pointing to something that is a little bit different to what was there before.
“So, there’s an energy and a buzz and there’s more things happening, but it’s not the same old stuff that was here in 2019-20 coming back.”
Hopes that H&M and Starbucks could act as a ‘catalyst’
Go Forth Stirling Business Improvement District (BID) project director Danielle McRorie-Smith was “thrilled” to hear the two major brands are set to open in the Thistles.
She said: “It’s always wonderful when new businesses come here and it just shows what a thriving and popular location Stirling is.
“The city attracts a wide range of national brands and independent retailers which illustrates the confidence business owners have in Stirling and is a real boost for business growth.”
Stirling MSP Evelyn Tweed also welcomed the news.
She said: “Seeing large brands such as H&M and Starbucks opening stores within the city shows a confidence in the retail environment locally.
“I am also pleased to see that H&M’s new store will form part of the former Debenhams unit which is by some distance the largest empty unit in our city centre at present.
“I really hope these new stores will be a catalyst for other big brands to return to the city and increase footfall to the city centre and boost the local economy.”
Conversation