Zara leaves downtown for Steel

We told you about it exclusively from the end of August last year , even if the information still had to be put in the conditional. But this time, it’s official: as feared by many, Zara will leave the city center to set up shop in the Steel shopping center, in Pont-de-l’Âne. The opening would be scheduled for two months, mid-May.

Against all expectations, it was the town hall itself which gave the information, this late Wednesday afternoon, through a press release: “The Spanish group Inditex, parent company of Zara , has just confirmed its decision to maintain its presence in Saint-Étienne given its attractiveness, with the stated desire to install, in Steel, a latest generation Zara store, with an innovative concept, commensurate with the strong development potential of the city and its metropolis,” rejoices the municipal majority.

Over 2,500 m² in the old Foir’excavation

According to this same press release, the Zara store in Saint-Étienne will be “the largest in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes”. Which will obviously be accompanied by job creation. And for the town hall, this “will contribute to attracting and attracting even more customers to the city from the entire Saint-Etienne metropolis, but also from the Forez plain, the southern Rhône and the Haute-Loire”.

In Steel, Zara will move into a 3,800 m cell² of which 2,500 m² of sales area. This is the former location of Foir’fouille, which moved last summer to the south island of the shopping center to expand. This cell, on which Zara has set its sights, is located at the very end of the main avenue, near the “Place des Pins”. The development work began a few weeks ago.

A priori, no “home and decoration” section planned

This new Zara store will bring together all of the brand’s departments, which are currently scattered between two stores on Place du Peuple: the men’s department on one side, the women’s and children’s departments on the other (the children being very impractical for young parents, since it is located upstairs). On the other hand, there would not, a priori, be a Zara Home, that is to say a “home and decoration” section, within this new store.

The director of Steel, Josselin Durand, is delighted with the arrival of this new brand: “After Jack & Jones , Tefal , Project X Paris or Bershka, the establishment of Zara confirms the dynamism of Steel, and will make it possible to welcome more and more customers from Saint-Étienne and further afield to take advantage of our different worlds. »

“Potential buyers” for the premises on Place du Peuple

Concerning the two commercial spaces which will remain empty on Place du Peuple, the town hall affirms that “several potential buyers” have already come forward. An optimism which will undoubtedly leave many doubtful, when we know that the former H&M premises, rue Gambetta, are still empty since the departure in 2020 of the Swedish brand… to Steel.