Dundee’s loss will be Kirkcaldy’s gain after Next confirmed it will deliver a 90-job, £4.5 million upgrade at its store in the Fife town.
The company said it was “very disappointed” at the negative response of Dundee City Council to its bid to create Scotland’s first Next Home, Garden and Fashion store at Kingsway West Retail Park.
The council’s rejection was confirmed by a Scottish Government planning appeal decision and the company will now take its project 30 miles down the A92 to the Fife Retail Park in Kirkcaldy.
Next already has planning permission to extend and refurbish its Kingsway West store but wanted the extra 1,300 sqm to sell clothes and footwear.
The company said its £4.3m, 85-job development would have attracted shoppers from a wide area and given the city an economic boost.
The council refused the application, fearing the extended range of goods on sale at Kingsway West would weaken other shopping areas in the city.
Next took its case to the Scottish Government where planning appeals reporter Donald Harris noted the company’s view that the development would have a positive effect on the economy.
The economic advantages were outweighed by the damage to the strategy protecting Dundee’s city and district retail centres, however, and he backed the council.
A company spokesman said it is therefore abandoning its plans to extend the Kingsway West store but is keeping open its store in Gallagher Retail Park, which would have closed if the Kingsway West extension had gone ahead. It also has an outlet in the Overgate Centre.
Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce chief executive Sandra Burke said: “We were generally supportive of the Next proposal for Kingsway West because of the economic benefits and the jobs gain, so we are disappointed that it is not going ahead.”