Bargain Primark rival confirms it’s launching in UK next month – boasting self-checkouts and robotic hanger sorters

A POPULAR Spanish fashion brand will open its first UK store in the coming weeks. The 50,000 square-foot shopping centre site will offer a range of low-price clothing, footwear, accessories, and home buys. A popular fashion retailer is set to open its first UK store at the end of August (stock image) Credit: Getty Zara’s sister brand Lefties will launch at Liverpool ONE at the end of August (stock image) Credit: LEFTIES Lefties, which shares parent company Inditex with Zara, Bershka, and Pull&Bear, is set to open a number of new locations across the UK before the end of the year. The retailer will officially make its UK debut at Liverpool ONE at the end of August before launching at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex in early October. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! And a third location will open at Gateshead Mertocentre the following month. Lefties first launched as an outlet for unsold Zara stock in 1999, and has since become known as the retailer’s “cheaper and trendier little sister”. The retailer has since developed into a standalone brand, selling original clothing for adults and children. Each new Lefties store will utilise technology already used at the retailer’s latest European branches, which includes robotic hanger sorters and radio-frequency identification self-checkouts. This system works to identify discarded hangers by department and size,a and sort them into boxes. Meanwhile, the in-store checkouts will be programmed to recognise groups of tagged products without shoppers scanning each item separately, similar to the system already used a Uniqlo stores in the UK. Most read in Fabulous Lefties operates a total of 215 stores across 19 markets, with the UK set to become its 20th. Lefties global director Xavier Ruz said the retailer was “not in a hurry to open a lot of stores”, with plans to study shopping patterns at the first three locations before further expansion. Comment now