Plans have been submitted to transform a section of the landmark former Browns of Chester site into a new Harrods 'H-Beauty' store. The luxury beauty brand is looking to lease part of the old Debenhams department store at ground floor level and at number 34 and 36 on the Rows.
Listed building and advertisement consent applications have been lodged with Cheshire West and Chester Council. If approved, the new store would generate 70 jobs.
The historic Eastgate Street building has been vacant since its closure in May 2021, reports . The Martin Property Group, an Irish family-owned business, acquired the £4m-valued property more than two years ago.
According to the design and access statement for the H-Beauty plans, Martin will be splitting the site into smaller units "as a more marketable offer for occupation". It adds: "The proposed site for H-Beauty is part of the overall effort of the owners to revitalise the store, which has remained vacant since the liquidation of the Debenhams business and closure of stores in May 2021.
"The proposal for occupation by H-Beauty is in response to the client's brief and forms part of the expansion of the H-Beauty brand in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.1.2 The H-Beauty stores of Harrods offer luxury Beauty products, treatments and educational workshops for skincare, make-up, fragrance and hairstyling categories."
"The brand was launched in the Lakeside Shopping Centre in September 2020 as a new beauty experience, setting a new standard for beauty emporiums around the world. Since then the stores have had a steady distribution growth nationally with successful presence in Essex, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Bristol. The proposal for H-Beauty in Chester is part of this strategy for steady growth in pivotal centres."
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