Budget fashion retailer Lefties has confirmed it will make its long-awaited UK debut at Liverpool ONE later this summer, with its first British store set to open at the end of August.
Owned by Inditex, the global fashion group behind Zara, Lefties will launch its flagship Liverpool store before expanding to Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex in October and Metrocentre in Gateshead in November.
The opening marks a major milestone for the brand, with the UK becoming Lefties’ 20th international market.
Budget fashion giant brings latest shopping technology to Liverpool
Originally launched by Inditex in 1999 as an outlet for unsold Zara stock, Lefties has since evolved into a standalone fashion retailer offering its own collections across womenswear, menswear, childrenswear, footwear, accessories and homeware.
Today, the retailer operates 215 stores across 19 countries, with Liverpool chosen as the location for its first UK venture.
Shoppers visiting the Liverpool ONE store can also expect some of the latest retail technology already being used in Lefties’ newest European locations.
The store will feature robotic hanger sorting systems, designed to automatically identify and organise discarded hangers by department and size before returning them to staff for reuse.
Customers will also be able to use radio-frequency identification (RFID) self-checkouts, allowing multiple tagged items to be recognised instantly without scanning each product individually, helping to speed up the checkout process.
Lefties UK expansion
The arrival of Lefties is expected to shake up the UK’s value fashion market, placing the retailer in direct competition with high street giant Primark as well as fast-growing online brands including Shein and Temu.
While Liverpool will be the first city to welcome the retailer, Inditex says it is taking a measured approach to its UK expansion.
Lefties Global Director Xavier Ruz said the company is “not in a hurry to open a lot of stores” and plans to learn from its first three UK locations before deciding on further expansion.
Although details of the Liverpool store’s full range are yet to be confirmed, the retailer’s 50,000-square-foot Metrocentre location will stock womenswear, menswear, children’s and baby clothing, alongside footwear, accessories and homeware, giving shoppers an indication of what they can expect when the Liverpool ONE store opens at the end of August.
It is expected to attract shoppers eager to experience one of Europe’s fastest-growing value fashion brands for the first time in the UK.
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