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Superdry boss Julian Dunkerton has warned Oxford Street “needs serious help” after the busy road has been left in disarray from the rise of American Candy Stores and empty shop units.
The chief executive stated that if the street is to continue to be one of the top shopping avenues in the world, it “needs some serious help.” Dunkerton proposed making the area more pedestrian-friendly or using a more “joint up approach to planning and zoning to avoid the proliferation of temporary shops”.
The CEO of Superdry joined Frasers Group CEO Michael Murray in advocating for a reform of business rates.
Murray told The Mail earlier this month that sky-high rents and business rates where driving retailers away. “I can understand why retailers aren’t investing there, it’s not the most profitable location,” he said.
Oxford Street has more vacant units than the typical British high street, according to data from Local Data Company (LDC) and Retail Week. A survey of the area showed that 42 of Oxford Street’s 269 shops were vacant, representing a 16 per cent vacancy rate, higher than the 13 per cent average for high streets in central London and the 14 per cent average for retail streets throughout the rest of the UK.
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