Date is revealed for opening of shopping giant's new store in Ripon on £10m retail park

Next has grown to more than 700 stores worldwide since it was first launched in 1982, enjoying consistent and extraordinary success in an industry known for its volatility.

Still a household name in clothing, footwear and home products after more than 40 years, all things being equal, Next is to open its Ripon store at 10am om Thursday, May 22.

The opening as part of the £10 million St Michael's Retail Park development is a significant moment for the Yorkshire-rooted firm, shoppers and the city itself.

Building work at the retail park has been on-going since the start of the year not only on the new Next store but a major extension to the existing M&S store on Rotary Way in Ripon.

The sizable new Next, which covers 8,000 sq ft, has been created by combining two units on the site.

Megan Lunt, Retail Store Manager at Next, said the launch day would include a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.

Next was founded in 1982, after the men’s ready-to-wear suiting chain Hepworths, founded in 1864 by the Leeds tailor Joseph Hepworth, bought the womenswear chain Kendall and Sons and set about reinventing it.

In its early hey-day, the supermodels Naomi Campbell and Yasmin Le Bon both modelled for the store whose longevity is remarkable in the ever-changing world of retail.

Next now boasts nearly 500 stores in the UK, and 200 across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

St Michael’s Retail Park in Ripon was designed by The Harris Partnership in a joint venture between developer CDP Marshall and retail and leisure specialist Rothstone Estates.

At one point in the long-running saga of the St Michaels’ Retail Park development, Lidl had been set to move next to M&S, after winning planning approval.

But after delays, it gave up the contract last year.

It was just before Christmas that planning agents acting for Next gained planning approval from North Yorkshire Council to go ahead with the work.