American Candy Shop – Imageplotter Travel / Alamy Stock Photo
Shuttered storefronts, souvenir sellers and an impossible number of American sweet shops: that’s what you will be greeted with today if you visit Oxford Street, once regarded as Europe’s busiest shopping destination.
Its transformation from premier retail street to a sorry shadow of its former self has been rapid, particularly since the onset of the pandemic.
The number of empty stores on Oxford Street now stands at its highest since 2016 – the year that saw the collapse of Philip Green’s BHS leaving its flagship near Oxford Circus station empty.
Gone too are Debenhams, House of Fraser, Forever 21, HMV, Next, Gap, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins – all once stalwarts of the shopping district.
Oxford Street’s current vacancy level stands at 16.9pc, well over the national average of 13.9pc across the UK’s high streets and up from 11.5pc six years ago, according to Local Data Company.
Household names are disappearing as more and more shopping shifts online. A quarter of sales are now done digitally, according to Government figures, up from a fifth at the start of the pandemic.
Oxford Street has lost 12 fashion stores, three footwear shops and six banks since 2016 as businesses either struggle to adapt to the shift to digital or move their own businesses online.
In many cases, stores vacated by established names have been replaced by gaudy American candy shops and vape stores. The number of these outlets in the area has increased by 500pc since 2017.
Many are highly suspect. Westminster Council is currently investigating 30 American candy and souvenir shops on Oxford Street over business rates evasion estimated at £8m. £215,000 of suspected fake goods was seized as part of a raid on some of these businesses last month.
“We all know there has been an explosion of these stores on Oxford Street,” Westminster council leader Adam Hug said at the time of the raids. “The reality is these stores are a threat to the status and value of what is supposed to be the nation’s premier shopping street.”
The council assures it is doing what it can to reduce the number of problematic businesses operating in the area but describes the process as playing “wake-a-mole”.
“We’ve been taking action with the HMRC and trading standards to raid stores, and we’ve been raiding them a lot,” says Geoff Barraclough, a councillor at Westminster Council. “The Street’s main problem is that there are several offshore landlords that we’re unable to locate and they simply let the space to whoever to cover unreasonable business rates, which is a considerable amount for high street retailers.”
The council has launched a plan to “revive” Oxford Street but in the meantime, landlords are slashing rents to lure tenants. Average rents on Oxford Street have fallen from £1,000 per sq ft in 2018 to £675 per sq ft today, according to data from JDM retail.
Many of the mainstream retailers who remain in the area are rethinking their stores. John Lewis announced plans to redevelop 45pc of its flagship shop into office space in 2020. Ikea hopes to attract customers with its furniture displays, cafe and by allowing its customers to purchase in store for home delivery, rather than the traditional collection.
“The future of retail in many towns and cities is mixed-use,” says Sacha Berendji, group property director at Marks & Spencer.
However, attempts to redevelop M&S shop at the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street have become a political flashpoint.
Plans to demolish the Art Deco landmark and replace it with a new 10-storey retail and office block, with space for a cafe and gym, were given the green light earlier this year by Westminster Council and the Greater London Authority.
However, it was then referred to an independent planning inspector following a row with then-Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove. Gove got involved after environmental and heritage campaigners called for the site to be refurbished instead or razed.
M&S has warned that it will have to leave Oxford Street if it is unable to go ahead with its plans as they stand. An eight day public inquiry ended on Friday, with a verdict expected early next year.
Berendji said it would be “devastating” if M&S was forced to leave Oxford Street. The feeling is shared by other retailers, including Ikea and Selfridges which have backed M&S’s plans. Executives at both have spoken out about the need for investment in the area, with Sefridges noting that “Oxford Street in its heyday was the UK’s national shop window.”
“Over recent years the West End has significantly declined and many of our neighbours have departed to be replaced with void units and American candy stores.”
Ikea said: “A street of such international economic importance as Oxford Street, needs this type of investment and regeneration.
“Bricks and mortar continue to play a vital role, even within an increasingly digital retail landscape.”
Companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Nike have long viewed their Oxford Street stores as not solely money-making endeavours. These spaces provide customers with experiences such as hands-on demos with gadgets or the ability to personalise shoes.
“Retailers will often make a loss on an Oxford Street store, but the value of having that exposure is much greater,” said Jonathan De Mello, chief executive at retail and property consulting firm JDM Retail.
A mile-long street of retailers may not be as viable as it once was – consumer needs have changed and will continue to change – but one thing is certain: the area needs to change to keep up with rival shopping hubs, including the newly developed Battersea Park and Westfield centres across London.
While Oxford Street is unlikely to return to its former glory as Britain’s most famous shopping street, it needs to “create an experience that entices the ever promiscuous customer”, says Tim Vallance, retail chairman at JLL.
“Oxford Street will not remain in the wilderness,” says Vallance. “But it won’t remain dependent on retail. The street is likely to become a European styled boulevard, filled with restaurants and cafes in the centre of the Street.”
The battle over M&S’s Marble Arch development could well decide the future for the area: European boulevard or American candy haven.
Keyword: How Oxford Street was left drowning in empty shops and American candy stores