Devon-based tool retailer Axminster Tool Centre is kicking off an ambitious expansion plan with the announcement that it is to open a new store in the north east, at North Shields.
Located about eight miles from Newcastle, the outlet will be Axminster's seventh. Its existing stores are in Axminster in Devon, Basingstoke, Sittingbourne, High Wycombe, Nuneaton and Warrington.

The new store will be the first of many planned to spring up around the country. Speaking to DIY Week Retail Leaders in August, Axminster managing director Ian Styles said he was looking to grow the chain to 20 within the next 18 months, and now tells diyweek.net: "Indeed, that is still our plan. This store will be closely followed by our Cardiff store.

"Plans to open these two stores virtually at the same time allows us to understand the needs of training our staff and merchandising both stores at the same time, ultimately understanding our capacity to successfully launch new stores in close succession.

"2015 will see new locations identified by our land agent as suitable premises arise, though our prime focus will be towards Leeds, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Gatwick, taking us to a minimum of 12 stores in this coming year."

The North Shields store, with 10,000sq ft of retail space, will be opening in the early part of 2015 and is situated at Coast Road Retail Park on Norham Road. It will open seven days a week, including bank holidays, in line with most other retail outlets in the area, recognising that many customers find it convenient to shop on a Sunday.

It will stock 10,500 product lines including all of the most popular brands, and it will also be possible to order in store anything from the full range of the Axminster catalogue.

The new store will be the same size as the majority of Axminster's other branches and it will have some of the new concepts introduced into the most recent store, in Basingstoke. These include a new format, with improved layout and different merchandising techniques designed to enhance the product and provide the customer with more information.

Retail development director Darran McLeod said: "The store allows us to have approximately 10,500 lines on display and available in stock as well as some other features such as the Live Workshop, so customers can get hands-on with a wide selection of our tools and machinery. Although a new store, it will still maintain the Axminster ethos of offering high quality advice and customer service."

When choosing the site for the new store, the company looked at many other premises in the north east of England but, added Mr McLeod: "The potential of the North Shields site soon became apparent. It provides a store that will enable products to be displayed effectively and is in a highly populated area with a solid infrastructure, making the store easily accessible for not only the people of North Shields, but also the surrounding areas.