The premier retail street’s gaudy transformation has been rapid
Shuttered storefronts, souvenir sellers and an impossible number of American sweet shops: that’s what you will be greeted with today if you visit Oxford Street, once regarded as Europe’s busiest shopping destination.
Its transformation from premier retail street to a sorry shadow of its former self has been rapid, particularly since the onset of the pandemic.
The number of empty stores on Oxford Street now stands at its highest since 2016 – the year that saw the collapse of Philip Green’s BHS leaving its flagship near Oxford Circus station empty.
Gone too are Debenhams, House of Fraser, Forever 21, HMV, Next, Gap, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins – all once stalwarts of the shopping district.