An inaugural report released today, Future: Department Stores¹ analysing the use of department store properties across the UK and Ireland has found over three-quarters are now currently occupied or have planning applications pending – revealing a more positive side to the tide of closures which have dogged the retail industry.
The report undertaken by independent planning consultancy, and town centre and retail experts, Nexus Planning, looked at occupancy activity from 2015 to Autumn 2021 in 917 department store locations across nine major retailers, including now defunct Debenhams and BHS, which accounted for 347 properties.
Greater London has been hard hit by the closure of department store chains BHS and Debenhams, but it’s not all doom and gloom with exciting proposals to regenerate former sites into mixed-use developments, with offices, leisure, entertainment and culture giving sites a new lease of life.
In 2015, 79 department stores were recorded in Greater London, six years later this figure stands at 42 – a loss of just under 50%. However, in a very optimistic u-turn, 36% of these units have been redeveloped or re-used, with only 14% currently having no alternative retail use or plans for development.
All 14 former BHS stores have been snapped up by operators such as H&M and Primark, keen to capitalise on the department store locations. The former BHS flagship store on Oxford Street has been sub-divided into several units and is now occupied by Reserved – the Polish fashion retailer – and Swingers, an indoor crazy golf venue with an appealing food and beverage offering.
Elsewhere, with the closure of Debenhams a more recent occurrence, the 13 sites remain largely vacant, however four of the stores are either already occupied or have plans in progress for their use. Most notably the iconic Arding and Hobbs next to Clapham Junction station, which was the home of Debenhams until its closure, has had planning permission granted for a hotel, retail and leisure, offices and community space.
In Monument, in the heart of the City of London, a restaurant and gym operator will move in to the former House of Fraser site. Last week it was announced the House of Fraser store on Oxford Street will permanently close in January, planning permission has been very recently granted for a £100 million investment to refurbish and expand the footprint, including converting the upper floors into offices, along with a restaurant, pool and gym.
Rob Pearson, executive director at Nexus Planning and an expert on the Government’s High Street Taskforce, says: “We are amidst a housing crisis and in many cases these large brownfield department store sites represent excellent opportunities for high-density development combining a range of interesting commercial and community uses at ground floor level.

“Up until now, we’ve been preoccupied with shop closures, but business is incredibly resilient to change, and for every well-heralded story of a BHS or Debenhams closing, there are a multitude of examples of the green shoots of recovery, and that’s where we should now be turning our attention to see what we can learn.

“Nexus is being approached by a multitude of clients in the private sector seeking to rejuvenate their vacant or under-utilised assets, as well as clients in the public sector who are seeking inspiration and support in helping to deliver real change on their High Streets. A really exciting range of opportunities has been born out of the change in fortune of department stores, propelled by the challenges of the last two years,” said Rob.