Sports Direct finally confirmed for old BHS town centre store – opening November this year

New signage for the long-awaited and not so mystery tenant of the former BHS store has been put into place.

The ‘Sports Direct’ signage was going up on the largest Henblas Square unit yesterday, with several signs now in place for the sports retailer and purveyors of massive mugs.

The new store has been on the cards for over a year since new owners Mandale took over the row of long-term empty shops last year.

In December 2018 the company said it was investing more than £4m into buying and renovating the vacant shopping centre, having sold the 10,000 sq ft former BHS premises to a ‘major sports retailer’ who was set to move in early 2019 – with that now appearing to be later this year.

Speaking at the time Joe Darragh, Mandale estates director Joe Darragh, said Mandale see “no reason” why Henblas Square can’t reach the same heights as its heyday.

He added: “We’re hoping to revive what is now a dormant area of Wrexham town centre and get people who live, shop and work in the area shopping there again, and I’m sure we will,”

The shopping centre, which first opened to great fanfare in 1999, has seen a series of high profile closures in recent years, all for non-Wrexham specific reasons, starting in 2011 when TJ Hughes collapsed into administration.

Shops such as Bodycare, The Entertainer and the Post Office have all relocated elsewhere in the town – with other retailers such as Internacionale and BHS entering into administration.

Earlier this month Wrexham.com reported that plans for the much anticipated conversion of the former TJ Hughes into the new Techniquest Centre had also been given the go ahead.

Elsewhere on Henblas Square other units have ‘under offer’ signs in the windows, however there no confirmation as of yet to who will be moving in.

This week has also seen the space appear to be used for some kind of art exhibition, in a similar low key seemingly ad-hoc fashion to one previously held in the Henblas St development. Some companies offer services under ‘business rates mitigation‘ to put on exhibitions that looked very similar to the recent and previous art installations.