Budget fashion retailer Peacocks is to move into part of the former Woolworths store in Yate, with its Bonmarche womenswear chain taking over the rest of the building.

Peacocks, which announced increased sales earlier this month, and Bonmarche are set to open in the South Walk premises in June.

Shopping centre managers welcomed the arrival of the shops.

They said for the move to have come so soon after the closure of Woolworths – and in the current economic climate – was an endorsement that Yate was "going places".

Woolworths closed in Yate just before the new year.

It was one of more than 800 stores across the country which shut when Woolworths collapsed, bringing the curtain down on 100 years of retail history.

It also resulted in 27,000 workers losing their jobs.

Cardiff-based Peacocks has applied to South Gloucestershire Council for permission to install replacement shopfronts and divide the building into two units.

But it hopes to be able to start fitting out the premises in just a couple of weeks.

Dominion Trust, which owns the shopping centre, said the people of Yate had been asking for retailers such as Peacocks and Bonmarche

Mark Hull, property controller, said: "We also in addition have strong interest from other household names, which we will have pleasure in announcing towards the autumn of 2009."

Peacocks has 524 stores in the UK and earlier this month announced its like-for-like sales had risen by more than eight per cent.

It also said it expected to create up to 750 jobs during the next two years.

Bonmarche's target customers are the over-45s. It was founded in 1982 and has more than 380 stores nationwide.

It was acquired by the Peacock Group in 2002 and a couple of years ago launched a collection designed in collaboration with David Emanuel, who designed Princess Diana's wedding dress.

It is not known how many staff will be employed in the Yate stores.