Bershka is finally heading to Manchester for the first time, as its parent company signs a major flagship deal with the Trafford Centre.
The new deal with Inditex also means a new, supersized Zara store in a new location within the popular shopping centre.
And it’s upsizing its current Pull & Bear shop into a new site too.
The Trafford Centre has announced that Bershka will be opening there for the first time this summer.
The Spanish fast fashion brand is famed for its affordable, trend-led fashions.
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All three new stores will be occupying their own flagship spaces on Peel Avenue, promising a ‘better shopping experience’ with larger stores.
Bershka is finally opening in Manchester, alongside supersized Zara
Simon Layton, centre director at Trafford Centre, said: “This exciting new deal with Inditex demonstrates that Trafford Centre is going from strength to strength, and highlights our wider commitment to improving the customer experience for our guests.
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“The addition of Bershka to complement the already hugely popular Zara and Pull&Bear means our guests can enjoy an unrivalled fashion experience on their visit to Trafford Centre.”
Bershka, as well as the new larger Zara and Pull & Bear stores, will open at the Trafford Centre in Manchester in late summer 2025.
The ‘secret’ cash-and-carry near Piccadilly that’s selling amazing Italian food for less than the supermarkets
Daisy Jackson
We all know the pain of finally settling on what you want to eat for dinner, only to Google a recipe and discover a list of ingredients that your local Tesco definitely won’t have in stock.
‘Where the f*** am I going to get guanciale from at this hour?’, you think.
Well, just a stone’s throw from Manchester Piccadilly, you’ll find a cash-and-carry that’s an Aladdin’s cave of Italian food – and a damn sight cheaper than a supermarket, too.
Amato is a name you might recognise, with their grey vans regularly trundling around Greater Manchester delivering top Italian produce to all your favourite restaurants.
But you don’t need a wholesale membership to take advantage of their massive range of pastas, sauces, drinks, meat, cheese, and just about everything else you can think of – or to make the most of the prices either.
Amato has given up a small section of its 20,000 sq ft warehouse to be a retail space, where you can pick up everything from fresh filled pasta to truffle oil.
There’s also a selection of produce from beyond Italy, like Kewpie mayonnaise and gochujang.
Part of the huge warehouse operates as a retail spaceBob Amato started the business more than 30 years ago
And they’ve honoured the prices given to wholesale clients too, with smaller retail sizing, meaning you can pick up affordable produce without needing to bulk-buy (or lug home a 25kg bag of flour).
The business was launched by Bob and Deloras Amato more than 30 years ago, getting top Italian ingredients to chefs across the North West.
But the retail side has really taken off since the Covid pandemic, Bob explains.
“It’s a bit of a secret place,” he says, “As we don’t tend to advertise it too much.”
It all began (as so many local businesses did) back in 2020.
He says: “During the pandemic, as we’re a wholesaler, we realised there was a big demand for flour, which we had plenty of. People were crying out for flour and we had absolutely tonnes of it in 25kg sacks.
A whole range of little pasta – or pastinaOne of two aisles dedicated to Italian pastaPasta shapes you won’t find in a supermarket
“So we got some of our staff to come in and to repackage it in smaller packages that we could sell to retail customers.
“From that, people weren’t allowed to go out and they wanted to make pizzas and pasta, so they wanted tomatoes and mozzarella and pepperoni and other products.”
As a customer now, you can pick up things like tinned San Marzano tomatoes, harvested in the foothills of Mount Vesuvius; fresh burrata from Puglia (or frozen, if you want it to have a slightly longer shelf life); and traditionally-cured meats like guanciale, speck, and prosciutto.
Essentially, there’s everything you need to make a hearty Italian feast from scratch, or you can grab a bag of homemade pesto and pasta, made fresh on site, from the fridges for an easier dinner.
Bob and his team are encyclopaedias of information about the food produced all the way across Italy, knowing the back story of every one of their 1,500+ products.
Cured meat including guancialeTrays of cannoli You can also pick up fresh filled pasta at Amato
He tells us about why pasta shapes get their name, like Schiaffoni, which loosely translates as ‘slaps’ because of the sound they make when they plop onto the plate.
Bob also explains the reason that Scamorza comes in a snowman-like shape, with the cheese being strung up by its ‘neck’ to dry and age.
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He chats us through all the different flours, and why you would use which in your pizzas; why good tinned tomatoes are worth seeking out (cheap ones are like ‘bullets’); and that you should always bring your burrata up to room temperature.
Even as we’re checking out with our armfuls of pasta, the staff member serving us is passing on tips for a perfect amatriciana sauce.
Amato is open from 7am daily (except Sundays), and if you’re stuck on what to make for dinner, pay Bob and his team a visit.
A brand-new Oxfam Vintage store is opening in Manchester – with a treasure hunt to celebrate
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new charity shop showcasing curated vintage clothing is opening in the Northern Quarter this month.
The new concept store comes from Oxfam, promising a more ‘design-led’ approach to pre-loved fashion.
Shoppers will be able to browse hand-picked, quality vintage pieces when the new Oxfam Vintage opens at the end of March.
The new Northern Quarter charity shop will transform the existing Oxfam Originals unit on Oldham Street.
It will feature UK-made fixtures, recycled materials, and large-scale installations using archival Oxfam magazine covers and festival artwork.
To celebrate the launch of Oxfam Vintage, they’ll be hosting a city-wide treasure hunt this weekend.
Giant ‘50% off Oxfam Vintage’ shopping tags will be hidden all over town, inside other Oxfam shops.
Anyone who finds one will be able to redeem the discount in-store once it launches on Friday 27 March.
Matt Burgess-Evans, Head of Store Development at Oxfam, said: “Oxfam Vintage represents a step change in how we present vintage fashion within our retail portfolio.
CGI of how Oxfam Vintage will look
“It was important that the design of the space reflected the approach to the product — creating an environment that supports a more curated offer and highlights the quality and longevity of vintage clothing.
“By presenting pieces in a considered way, the concept encourages customers to see vintage not just as thrift, but as fashion with lasting value.”
Oxfam Vintage opens on Friday 27 March, with the city-wide treasure hunt happening on Saturday 20 March.
Daisy Jackson -
4th April 2025 
