​Twenty-six flagship stores to open on London’s Oxford Street by 2019

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 22, 2016

More than 25 flagship stores are expected to open their doors between this year and 2019, with some retailers, including youthful fashion brand Stradivarius, to open in the second quarter of 2016, Kiko and Skechers, both launching in 2017 and Next, set to open in The Plaza in 2018.

According to real estate company Savills, 11 new flagships opened on Oxford Street since January 2014, as it increasingly becomes one of London’s most important shopping streets alongside Bond and Regent Street.

Sam Foyle, director of retail at Savills, comments: “This proliferation of flagships on Oxford Street is due to the vast number of shoppers the street attracts, which will only increase with the arrival of Crossrail and the key department stores continuing to strengthen their offer with investment and refurbishment programmes."

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Some of the international retailers that have chosen to make their UK debut with a store on Oxford Street include the Swatch Group, which opened a shop in November, and shoe brand New Balance, set to launch at 287-291 Oxford Street in the third quarter of 2016.

Savills said the creation of flagship stores was only possible thanks to the consolidation of smaller units. The flagship stores of Matalan, Zara and JD Sports were the result of the combination of 11 units, while 13 new flagships in the pipeline will see a further 57 smaller units consolidated.

Anthony Selwyn, head of central London retail at Savills, says: “'Due to the reduction in the number of retail units we expect to see particularly strong  rental growth coming from smaller shops when they become available as there will be limited opportunities.”

“We also predict locations close to Oxford Street where further investment is made will attract some of the smaller and perhaps more discerning requirements, South Moulton Street, Tottenham Court Road ‎and the northern end of Bond street being the most likely beneficiaries,” he said.