(Sharecast News) - Fashion retailer Sosandar said on Tuesday that it has signed a lease agreement for its third store in the North-East's Metrocentre, outside Newcastle in Gateshead.

Sosandar said the store was expected to open in October, in time for the "key Christmas trading period", and follows the opening of its first two locations in Chelmsford and Marlow in September.

The AIM-listed group stated a number of other stores were in the "latter stages" of legal processes and further prospective stores across a broader set of locations had been identified and were under review.

Co-chief executive Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said: "We are pleased to announce the third location for our Sosandar stores. We have a strict criteria of opening stores in top tier, thriving locations where Sosandar customers over-index, and Metrocentre ticks all these boxes. Metrocentre has a reputation for hosting a versatile range of fashion retailers and we look forward to the official opening of our store in the coming months."

As of 1010 BST, Sosandar shares were up 2.91% at 9.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com