Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo is the latest brand to open at Covent Garden in fresh evidence that London’s premier retail space is expanding beyond the once vibrant Oxford Street.
(Bloomberg) — Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo is the latest brand to open at Covent Garden in fresh evidence that London’s premier retail space is expanding beyond the once vibrant Oxford Street.
The brand, known for its affordable cashmere sweaters and bright puffer jackets, is opening the new store this week in a former Victorian carriage hall, complete with a Japanese tearoom. It is the 17th UK store for the retailer, which is owned by Fast Retailing Co., one of the world’s largest apparel makers. The new outlet will bolster Covent Garden where footfall is about 90% of pre-pandemic levels.
The three-story building took seven months to renovate and comprises self checkouts and a desk for clothing repairs as well as a dedicated section for sister brand Theory, known for its more formal styles.
“You have to be prepared to take risks and not create cookie-cutter retail,” said Michelle McGrath, executive director at Shaftesbury Capital Plc, which redeveloped the Uniqlo building from three separate units.
There are other signs of a local resurgence. In recent months Peloton, US athleisure brand Vuori and restaurant Story Cellar all opened in the area. Future arrivals include French sneaker brand Hoka, steak restaurant Gaucho and luxury Swiss watchmaker Girard-Perregaux.
On busy days, Covent Garden’s footfall is 5% to 10% higher than in 2019, according to McGrath. Vacancies are down to 2.5%, the same as before the pandemic.
Once a historic flower market, Covent Garden had become a rather tatty tourist attraction before it was transformed into an upmarket retail location by landlord Capital & Counties over the last 15 years with £1 billion ($1.2 billion) invested. CapCo merged with nearby Shaftesbury last month and the combined entity now owns 2.9 million square feet of real estate in London’s West End.
The area’s vibrancy contrasts with Oxford Street, a shopping area split among multiple landlords and where high-profile plots such as defunct department stores Debenhams and House of Fraser remain shut. The two locations are “chalk and cheese,” said McGrath.
Oxford Street is meant to be “the jewel in London’s crown” but is now a “national embarrassment, with a proliferation of tacky candy stores, antisocial behaviour and footfall remaining in the doldrums,” Stuart Machin, CEO of Marks & Spencer Group Plc, wrote in a letter to the Evening Standard newspaper on Wednesday.
M&S is trying to redevelop its store on Oxford Street but has faced opposition from local planners. Machin said London is on “life support” and falling behind other major global cities.
–With assistance from Gem Atkinson.
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