It is late morning on Maundy Thursday, just before the Easter holidays. A queue of about 100 excited shoppers are waiting to be let into the Chinese-owned designer toy store Pop Mart at 262 Oxford Street. Roll forward a fortnight to May 1, and yet another new retailer on “London’s high street” is also expected to draw in the crowds for its long awaited — and often delayed — West End launch. Ikea is finally opening its first genuine UK city centre store that day at 214 Oxford Street, in the building once occupied by Sir Philip Green’s Topshop flagship.
It has been a long haul. The Swedish furniture giant bought the site for £378 million in October 2021 and there have been a string of planning and construction snags, leading to multiple postponements of the opening date. But now the day is almost here.
The two retailers — one selling niche on-trend Chinese character collectibles, the other Scandinavian mass market homeware and furnishings — could scarcely be more contrasting. But they both tell a story about how Oxford Street is evolving and reviving from its near-death experience during the pandemic.
Walk along it and you will still pass many of the tacky candy stores, souvenir shops and faux Harry Potter “wizarding” emporia that pockmark Europe’s best-known shopping destination. Many popped up during the pandemic, when they took bargain basement deals from landlords desperate to fill the growing number of empty units.
But according to retail insiders, many of those spaces are now under offer from some of the dozens of international brands desperate for a shop window on Oxford Street. It has already been a strong start to the year for high-profile lettings and launches. This month German-owned sportswear brand Puma unveiled plans to open its first European flagship store, a 24,000 sq ft space at 376 Oxford Street. The retail destination is due to open in the autumn, promising “an immersive, interactive experience that blends sports performance and technology with cutting-edge streetwear designs”.
Ikea in Oxford Street
- When is the Ikea in Oxford Street opening? May 1
- Where are the London Ikea warehouses? Croydon, Greenwich, Lakeside, Wembley
- What is the largest Ikea in London? Wembley - at 40,000 square metres
- How big will the Ikea in Oxford Street be? 5,800 square metres
In January, Spanish-owned fast fashion retailer Mango revealed it will open a new 17,000 sq ft flagship store over three storeys at 415-419 Oxford Street later this year.
The same month, US fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch opened its new two-storey West End store just a few blocks away, at 325 Oxford Street.
Existing retailers have spent £118million on new fit-outs of their stores
But it is not only new arrivals that are investing in Oxford Street. According to research by agents Savills, existing retailers — including Nike, New Balance, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Moss Bros and Vans — have spent an estimated £118 million over the past 12 months on new fit-outs of their Oxford Street stores.
It is a tangible vote of confidence in a street that appeared to be destined for a death spiral of decline just a few years ago. Nothing exemplified that more than Westminster council’s ill-fated and already largely forgotten £6 million Marble Arch Mound. The man-made hillock and viewing platform was supposed to attract shoppers back to the West End. Instead, it became a global laughing stock.
The strength of the revival since those dark days will be measured by the reaction to the resuscitation of two of Oxford Street’s defunct landmark department stores over the coming year.
Earlier this month, Savills formally launched the marketing of office and retail space at the former Debenhams store at 340 Oxford Street. The official reopening, scheduled for the run-up to Christmas, will come four years after one of Oxford Street’s best known destinations went dark following a century of trading.
In its new incarnation it will have 52,500 sq ft of double-height retail space collectively known, not hugely imaginatively, as 340 Oxford Street. The 280,000 sq ft of grade A offices above has been given the name “The M Building”, apparently because it connects Mayfair with Marylebone.
Meanwhile, the other reimagined department store, the former House of Fraser flagship at 318 Oxford Street, has secured its first tenant, health and fitness club Third Space, which will take 30,000 sq ft of space including a gym floor, a spa with swimming pool, and studios.
The building is undergoing a £132 million refurbishment that will see it emerge as a development officially named Elephant — although probably “the old House of Fraser store” for most Londoners for many years to come. The 250,000 sq ft mixed-use destination will have 159,000 sq ft of office space, 42,000 sq ft of retail space and a 12,400 sq ft rooftop restaurant.
The Art Deco structure was built in 1937 and has been unused since House of Fraser followed Debenhams into department store heaven in January 2022. The development is scheduled to open in summer next year.
Callum White, an associate director in Savills’ central London retail team, said with vacancy rates on Oxford Street now down to pre-pandemic levels and with continuing strong interest from brands in North America, Asia and Europe, “demand is outweighing supply”.
He said: “Oxford Street took the biggest battering in retail during Covid — but now it is in a really good position. East Oxford Street has already had lots of development and west Oxford Street has been lagging behind because of the vacant department stores. Now, however, they are coming back.” Sadiq Khan’s plan to pedestrianise part of Oxford Street is also adding to the buzz around the destination with international brands, he added.
When Ikea opens the doors to the hordes of waiting shoppers next week, it will mark another major milestone in the revival of an address that Londoners have often held very mixed feelings about. There has been little to feel proud of on Oxford Street for many years. That may be about to change.
