A high street brand is advertising for staff to run its new Lowestoft store - less than a week after denying to this newspaper that it is moving to the town.
Last week, a spokesman for discount store B&M told us there were no plans to move into the town at this time, but it would 'welcome the opportunity to invest in the region'.
Now, an advertisement has been placed on its website searching for management for a new Lowestoft store, as rumours continue to suggest the discount retailer will move into the former BHS store on London Road North.
The large unit has been empty since August 2016, with branches in Norwich and Great Yarmouth also remaining closed.
The news comes as a number of empty units begin to be filled in Lowestoft, with the Britten Centre close to securing tenants for a many of its vacant stores.
Dan Poitras, centre manager, said: 'The future for the centre is looking great and it looks like we will be able to be completely full by the end of November.
'Pandora has already signed and I am expecting contracts to be signed for the old Nicholls unit very soon - which is going to be an independent business serving cakes and milkshakes.'
Mr Poitras also confirmed the former QD has been separated into three smaller units, one of which will likely become a new charity shop.
The decision to divide the large unit into smaller ones has been greeted by Danny Steel, chairman of Lowestoft Vision.
He said: 'I think that is definitely the way forward with big units, as it is much easier to find willing tenants that way.
'The more shops and businesses we have the better, as they do create jobs and bring money into the town centre, we just need people to support them.
'Discount home stores such as B&M do
very much seem like the flavour of the month at the moment, and town
centres are
changing, so this is interesting news.'
Mr Steel did, however, say that he would have preferred Primark to take on the BHS store, though this was not possible.
The Journal contacted B&M for a comment
on the advertisement, but
did not hear back at the time of going to print.
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