A brand new Dunelm store is on its way to an Essex shopping centre. The homeware retailer has long been rumoured to be opening a store in Southend, and now plans have officially been submitted to the council.
The plans are for a unit in the Royals Shopping Centre in Southend High Street, which has stood vacant for some time. Now, in a planning application to Southend City Council, planning permission has been requested for several illuminated Dunelm signs to go around the shopping centre.
The retailer stocks a range of homeware items from furniture, bedding, lighting, kitchenware and more. In April 2022, the retailer opened its latest Essex store in the Mayflower Retail Park in Basildon.
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The new Dunelm store being earmarked for The Royals would fill the long-vacant unit formerlly occupied by budget fashion retailer Primark. The chain closed the store in the shopping centre back in 2020, before relocating to a new unit on the high street.
According to drawings featured in the new plans, Dunelm would be on the ground floor, with a Pausa Kitchen cafe and a “Made to Measure” curtains and blinds area on the second floor of the shopping centre.
Plans for new signs for Dunelm at The Royals Shopping Centre in Southend
(Image: Dunelm/Southend Council planning portal)
Dunelm had initially shared plans to open in the unit back in 2022, but instead opted to invest in the Mayflower Retail Park site which went on to open first. The plans have been registered with Southend Council and will be decided by a planning committee at a later date.
It is not yet known when the new store will officially open, what its working hours will be, or how many jobs it would create.