It's becoming a case of STACK not just by name but by nature for the Newcastle-born leisure organisation.
In 2022 there was seemingly an endless stream of announcements about new sites, new locations and new cities.
And the good news is that there seems to be no sign of stopping for the brand which has cornered the market in bringing together live entertainment, food and drink in unique settings.
It’s almost five years since STACK Newcastle first opened its doors, transforming the corner of Pilgrim Street by putting in place a number of shipping containers to create a new kind of leisure venue.
There’s no doubt the region took it to their hearts – an amazing three million visitors stepped over the threshold during its time there.
Not surprising then that the news it was to close – although the site had always been a temporary one – was met with dismay and upset.
But thankfully that has been relatively short lived, with the announcement at the end of 2022 that STACK Newcastle will return to Pilgrim Street where it will take up permanent residence at the Grade II listed building, Worswick Chambers.
The new flagship venue will be a combination of the existing building with an extension built using the original shipping container concept to create the STACK’s much loved outdoor plaza area.
The whole venue will be split over three floors, to include multiple bars and street food units alongside what has become an essential element of any STACK – an outdoor plaza of a stage for live performances and a big screen, which hopefully should be up and running later this year.
In the interim the brand is still alive and well in the region, in the shape of STACK Seaburn which has also been part of the success story. Despite opening in the midst of the pandemic, the site has also welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors and has an extremely loyal following.
That confidence in the concept has led owners the Danieli Group, to start to roll out their national expansion plan with a vengeance.
A former Argos store at St Marks Shopping Centre in Lincoln is currently undergoing construction to be repurposed as an exciting new STACK – the first development outside of the region.
Danieli Group is taking the concept to new levels – transforming a large scale empty retail shed into a leisure attraction that will combine all of the elements that make STACK such a huge success – street food, bars, roof terrace, large stage, big screens, coffee shop and gaming area for competitive socialising.
At the same time plans have been announced for a number of exciting new ventures here in the North East.
Two new, ambitious schemes have been proposed for County Durham – one which will see the transformation of Durham city’s former Marks & Spencer store into STACK Durham on Silver Street, and a purpose-built STACK scheme is planned for Newgate Street in Bishop Auckland on the former Mothercare and WHSmith site.
Both developments, if approved by the local authority, will provide an exciting leisure solution to underused retail units and support the counties ambitious plans to regenerate and revitalize the town centres providing a vibrant day and evening economy for residents and visitors alike.
Neill Winch, CEO of Danieli Group, is excited about all of the new plans.
“We are in the business of transforming places, and we hope to be a catalyst for transformation in County Durham with a combined investment of more than £7 million,” he said.
“We believe STACK will be a huge asset in both locations contributing to local culture, jobs, enterprise, tourism and communities.”
More than 300 jobs will be created across both of these schemes, with STACK Durham due to be open by winter 2023 and Bishop Auckland in 2024.
Both sites will be the usual mix of quirky street food, top quality bars and entertainment and performance spaces, whilst STACK Durham also has some added elements of surprise with a roof top terrace and a games room with state-of-the-art interactive shuffleboards and darts.
At the same time the company’s skill at transformation could also be seen in Middlesbrough, where an unprepossessing space under a flyover is being proposed to become STACK Middlesbrough.
A pop-up venture – although it will be in place for three years – is an ambitious and imaginative scheme that once again highlights the sheer imagination and commitment of the team.
Barely pausing for breath, an application to create STACK Carlisle on Lowther Street car park, which will be developed using the original method of shipping containers, is to go before local councilors in the near future, bringing a much needed boost to the leisure scene in that area.
With so many balls in the air, a less skillful juggler would have cause for concern – but not Neill.
“We made a number of exciting announcements in 2022 and this has set us up for a busy year ahead, however the plans to expand don’t stop there as we enter a period of rapid growth to establish the STACK brand as a household name,” he said.