Successful Be More Geek chain opens first Sunderland branch in The Bridges

A fast-growing chain which caters for fans of movies, TV shows and anime is to open its latest store at Sunderland’s the Bridges.
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Be More Geek – which offers a whole host of merchandise, collectables, costumes and homeware for superfans – opened its first store in Newcastle in 2018.

Now, the founders are bringing the popular brand to Wearside, taking up residence in a unit next to Smiggle and Bodycare, with plans for the store to open on Friday, March 18.

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The Sunderland launch follows on from stores in Middlesbrough and Gateshead MetroCentre which opened pre-pandemic, with the company managing to retain all its staff and staying operational, despite the challenges of the previous two years.

Staff at the new Be More Geek at The BridgesStaff at the new Be More Geek at The Bridges
Staff at the new Be More Geek at The Bridges

The company has enjoyed huge success on Tyneside, having moved a number of times to bigger units to cater for the demand.

They are confident that success will also be replicated at the Bridges, where five new jobs have also been created.

Managing Director, James Gee, believes the success of Be More Geek is down to customer loyalty and brand awareness.

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“Myself and all the team at Be More Geek continue to be extremely humbled by the support from our customers. Without them, the business simply would not be here today,” he said.

Be More GeekBe More Geek
Be More Geek

“We have also developed excellent relationships with a number of different suppliers, fine tuning our stock offering and concentrating on licenses that our customers love, such as horror, anime and Funko POPs to name a few.”

The Sunderland store will also feature one of the company’s signature murals from North East artist Creative Ginger, which are always a talking point and an immersive feature of the stores.

James added that the company was “very excited to open our fourth store in Sunderland.”

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“The Bridges is a busy shopping centre and has a fantastic range of stores and it made complete sense logistically for the business to look at Sunderland given its proximity to our existing stores,” he said.

It's set to open from March 18It's set to open from March 18
It's set to open from March 18

“We have an exciting three year growth plan, have bolstered our head office team and have upgraded our systems. We have also moved into a new purpose-built head office all with the aim of supporting our expansion plans both inside and outside of the North East.”

Karen Eve, centre director at the Bridges said Be More Geek was a great addition to the centre.

“We are really delighted to have been chosen by Be More Geek and know that they will be extremely popular,” she said.

“They are already a massive regional success story and we are very pleased to be part of their journey.”

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