A NATIONAL retail chain is opening its 178th national outlet at the Cleveland Centre next month.

99p Stores will open the new £250,000 store – two lots of former clothes stores – on Monday March 12th.

It will see the creation of 35 new jobs.

More 99p Stores are being planned in Teesside and the North-east as part of an expansion plan which has seen it go from a one-man band to national brand in a little over a decade, and double in size in less than three years. It plans to double again – within the next four years.

In all, more than 300 jobs are being planned for the North-east over the next year.

“We are delighted to be opening up in Middlesbrough and at the flagship Cleveland Centre which is at the heart of the town centre,” says 99p Stores boss Hussein Lalani.

“We know from intensive research that Middlesbrough and Teesside shoppers love value as much as anywhere in the UK.

“We have a 99p Stores site in Hartlepool which is one of our most frequented in the UK – we are sure the new Middlesbrough branch will be just as busy.”

Talking about the shift in shopping spending and the changing landscape of the High Street Mr Lalani said: “We have seen a revolution on the High Street. The public are telling us the best thing to have come out of the current recession, maybe the only thing, is the dawning of new shopping habits and patterns.”

Stores bosses are working with Jobcentre Plus to fill the shop positions.

Applicants can apply to jobs@99pstoresltd.com or via local offices of Jobcentre Plus.