A NEW home and garden store will open in York next month, bringing 35 jobs to the city.

HomeSense has signed a deal to move into one of the last remaining units at Foss Islands Retail Park and is due to open at the end of August.

Work has already started to fit out the store, which, like its sister company TK Maxx, specialises in offering branded goods at discounted prices.

The shop will be only metres away from Homebase – another leader in the homeware market – but a company spokesman said he was confident HomeSense would offer customers something different.

He said: “All competition is healthy and there is no other home store out there that offers the products we do.

“A team of experienced buyers scour the marketplace all year round to secure the best deals, and a simple, no frills store format ensures further savings are passed on to the customer.”

This latest deal leaves only one remaining unit to lease at Foss Islands Retail Park, which was completed in 2008 by developers Keyland Gregory.

Richard Tovey, of Keyland Gregory, said they were currently in discussion with two national retailers who had shown a strong interest in the unit.

As previously reported in The Press, HomeSense’s sister company, TK Maxx, is due to open a second store in the city in September.

The fashion retailer has agreed to let the former Boots store in Coney Street, which has been empty since July 2008, when Boots moved to the vacated Woolworths store nearby.

TK Maxx, which already has a store in Monks Cross, will open the additional store to sell only ladieswear.

Recruitment is already under way to fill the 35 full and part-time posts at HomeSense and anybody interested should visit homesense.com for more information.