Gun toting cyber babe Lara Croft has been North Wales for the first time since Tomb Raider 2 was filmed here nearly 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
The fictional character, made famous by Angelina Jolie, came to the Eagles Meadow shopping centre in Wrexham.<\/p>\n
Two lookalike models Leah Brighouse and Samantha Jackson, accompanied by a bright orange hummer stopped weekend shoppers in their tracks as they celebrated the opening of Grainger Games.<\/p>\n
The flagship Wrexham store has been hailed by managers as it\u2019s brought new jobs to the town and it\u2019s the first in Wales.<\/p>\n
According to Manager Stephen Bramwell, Grainger Games is excited to start trading in the town.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe started in Newcastle and we thought it was a good time to come to Wales and Wrexham\u2019s the first one and we\u2019re seeing how well we\u2019ll do here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see this as a stepping stone. We have a store in Ellesmere Port and lots of people kept asking why we didn\u2019t have a store in Wrexham.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrainger Games is an awesome company. We\u2019re aiming to have 100 stores open by next year. Wrexham is our 70th<\/sup>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The store has brought six new jobs to the town and there will be more employment opportunities as Christmas approaches.<\/p>\n \u201cThe store has six full time members of staff and we\u2019re looking for a part time member of staff now. We\u2019ll also be taking more people on for Christmas,\u201d said Mr Bramwell.<\/p>\n The 32-year-old is originally from Liverpool and wants to see Grainger Games in Eagles Meadow eventually managed by someone from the Wrexham area.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to hand the store over to someone from the local area….so fingers crossed there\u2019ll be a manager\u2019s position available soon. Ideally we\u2019d like someone from Wrexham who knows the area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When the shop opened on Saturday dozens of children were drawn to the orange hummer parked outside the store. The vehicle is synonymous with celebrity drivers such as Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger.<\/p>\n Said Stephen: \u201cWe use the hummer with every store open and it\u2019s always a great success.\u201d<\/p>\n Also a hit with shoppers were Lara Croft lookalikes Leah Brighouse and Samantha Jackson from Prestatyn.<\/p>\n The computer generated Lara has been popular in North Wales since Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Fire was filmed in and around Snowdonia in 2002.<\/p>\n Miss Brighouse has been a Lara lookalike model for 4 years and has now set up her own agency.\u00a0 She managed to look around Eagles Meadow during the day and said she was impressed with what she saw.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve not been to Wrexham for\u00a0 a few years and we didn\u2019t recognise Eagles Meadow. We\u2019ve said we\u2019ll come back shopping now that Wrexham\u2019s been spruced up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Stephen Bramwell added that their first day trading was very promising.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been brilliant, awesome and the store\u2019s been busy all day. We try to be cheaper and we want to be the cheapest in Wrexham. This is a really nice shopping centre and foot falls been great and it\u2019ll only get better as more and more stores open.\u201d<\/p>\n Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchley was delighted to welcome Grainger Games to the centre.<\/p>\n He said: “We have a really diverse range of\u00a0 independent shops and well known High Street favourites at Eagles Meadow and Grainger Games has added to the choice.<\/p>\n “I am naturally extremely pleased that they chose Eagles Meadow as the location for their first ever Welsh store.”<\/p>\n