A BATHROOM and tile retailer is opening a new showroom in Bradford shortly.

Easy Bathrooms, which has a 110,000 sq ft headquarters and warehouse in Birstall, has taken over the former Maplin electronic store at Valley Road, adjacent to the Forster Square Retail Park.

It is expected to open by the middle of next month.

The firm, which has showrooms across the UK, including in Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Sheffield, is investing £200,000 in the 4,000 sq ft store.

There will be more than 60 displays including tiles, bathroom furniture, radiators and mirrors, among other products.

The store, which is Easy Bathrooms' 32nd, will open seven days a week, from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.

It will also welcome trade buyers too with incentives offered to business account holders.

The move has created four full-time jobs and the firm has plans to open six more stores nationally throughout the year.

Neil Bell, head of retail for Easy Bathrooms explained how the company was expanding its stores with the intention of creating a "network of showrooms", as well as increasing its online sales.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: "During a period when there's plenty of doom and gloom surrounding the UK high street, we are proud to expand and open bricks and mortar stores, alongside growing our online presence.

"Our strategy is to create a network of showrooms, where people can see, touch and try our products before making a purchase.

"Our Bradford store is our ninth showroom in the region, which we're incredibly proud of.

"We're a Yorkshire-based company; and we are pleased to be able to create more employment opportunities across our home county."

Easy Bathrooms was founded in 2012 to provide stylish, yet affordable bathroom products to UK homeowners, housebuilders, tradespeople, interior designers and hotels.

The unit at Valley Road was left vacant after 200-store electronic firm Maplin went into administration in February last year after attempts to rescue the chain failed.

The company, which began as a mail-order business in the 1970s, was one of the UK's biggest electronics retailers and employed more than 2,000 staff before its demise.

In June it was reported that the last Maplin store had closed down.

The key Valley Road site, which is next to Halfords, has been empty since the Bradford store was forced to close its doors.