Big retail brands look to leave Oxford Street stores as shopping district enters 'new era'
Big retail brands look to leave Oxford Street stores as shopping district enters 'new era'
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Famous high street brands are looking to leave their Oxford Street location arguing it is not attracting enough shoppers. The owners of Park House, which is home to Pandora, Swarovski, Bershka, Urban Outfitters and the flagship River Island store, said the retailers want to exit their lease “at the earliest opportunity”.
Westminster council earlier this month signed off plans to change the use of the building to include more “leisure, medical, restaurant and competitive socialising" space. Microsoft on Monday also announced it is closing its Oxford Street flagship next month, just six years after it first opened, to focus instead on “digital growth”.
Jonathan Strong, speaking on behalf of Park House which is part owned by the Qatar Central Bank, said: “Park House occupies an entire urban block and includes 8,900 square meters of retail over basement, ground and first floors. “It is situated opposite Marks and Spencer and diagonally across from Selfridges, yet has not been performing well in terms of attracting footfall or retail expenditure.
“In fact, most of the retail tenants of Park House are seeking to exit the building at the earliest opportunity. “Going forward, we therefore need to reconfigure the retail element of Park House to fit with current and future occupier requirements and to ensure that the building continues to play its part in maintaining the interest and appeal of Oxford Street as an international shopping destination.
