TGJones and its parent company Modella Capital unveiled plans to widen the retailer to more than 500 shops nationwide in a call with landlords yesterday (19 November).

TGJones CEO Sean Toal and Modella Capital property director Charlie Martindale informed property agents and landlords that its long-term goals were to grow the retailer’s high street business estate from 464 sites to over 500.

Retails were shared with Retail Week. The executives did not share a concrete timetable to achieve their goal.

Toal said that TGJones was currently underrepresented across certain locations such as Edinburgh and Manchester, and that its 500-plus future shop aim would include relocations and resizings of existing shops.

Additionally, he reportedly told the agents and landlords that he envisioned the future of the business as being “the hub of the high street,” where shopper footfall would be fuelled by multiple missions: “read through books, use the magazines, learn through our stationery range, play with our Toys ‘R’ Us ranges, and post and bank”.

The exec said he envisioned 180-plus Post Office locations across the company’s shops, noting that its existing sites with Post Office locations saw a weekly increase in footfall of between 4,000 and 6,000.

TGJones is also targeting more than 250 Hobbycraft store-in-stores and over 250 Toys ‘R’ Us locations in the group’s shops by the end of the 2027 financial year.

Although numbers weren’t provided for locations, there are also ambitions to include the private equity firm’s acquisition of Claire’s in at least some of the retailer’s stores in the future, Retail Week understands.

TGJones and Modella informed landlords it had revamped 16 of the retail business’s stores this year, which displayed the business’s new flagship fascia, with TGJones planning an opening of a new Leeds site on Saturday (22 November).

Toal is understood to have informed landlords that looking ahead, as TGJones launches and retrofits new shops based around this more flagship model, the business will be seeking longer lease agreements from landlords with fewer break clauses.

TGJones will be seeking short term rent reductions or rent-free periods to help with costs, to help with initial fit out costs.

Toal said: “Having recently completed the rebranding of all our stores to TGJones, we have been talking to all our key partners and sharing our ambitions for TGJones. 

“We have talked about our plans to introduce some of the UK’s most-loved brands, including Hobbycraft and Toys ‘R’ Us, and growing our strong partnership with the Post Office. 

“We hope to create busy high street hubs that serve the needs of customers throughout the UK.”

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