AN iconic Debenhams store is awaiting bulldozers after standing in a city centre since the 1960s.
The building, once a bustling hub for shoppers in its heyday of the 90s, will be transformed into nearly 200 homes.
GettyDebenhams was once the lynchpin of department stores in the UK[/caption]
Native Land, the developers responsible for the project, have said that the demolishing process is “progressing well”.
The work kicked off in February this year with a large focus on knocking down the third floor.
Locals were concerned about the waste material being produced as a result of the restructure, but the company has said that “nearly 2,700 tonnes” has been collected and that “98 per cent was recycled or reused.”
St Mary’s Wharf will be made of 185 private homes as well as a selection of restaurants and there are also plans for a cinema.
There is additional planning for new public walkways and gardens which will provide walking access to the High Street for the first time since the 1960s.
Debenhams served the public until May 2020 when the company went into liquidation.
The 242-year-old business was forced to close 124 of its stores across the country after last-ditch efforts to save the retailer failed.
Debenhams was the largest department store group in the UK in the 1950s, with 110 stores.
In 2006 it joined the stock market with a price tag of £1.7bn.
However, the shop has struggled in the last decade with profits plummeting as it struggled to keep up with changes inflicted by Brexit and the pandemic.
In 2021 fast fashion brand Boohoo bought Debenhams out of bankruptcy for £55million but none of its 124 stores.
At the time, Boohoo was enjoying the online boom as bored shoppers spent lockdowns buying outfits from their smartphones and it tapped into rapidly changing social media fashion trends.
However, since Covid restrictions lifted, Boohoo’s share price has collapsed by 90 per cent.
Its sales growth has stalled, losses have soared and it has faced intense competition from rival fast-fashion site Shein.
Daniel Finley, who was only promoted in November from leading the Debenhams division to chief executive of the group, yesterday said that he wanted to use his turnaround of the former department store business as “a blueprint for the wider turnaround of the group”.
In a major strategy shift, the retailer will go from being driven by its own brands, designing and buying stock in its own warehouse to having a “stock-lite and capital-lite” model.
Analysts welcomed the shake-up, saying that Debenhams was now making around half of the group’s earnings.
Still, the company’s shares fell by another 4.6 per cent yesterday to 26p.
The shift will mean Debenhams will go up against the likes of strong retail giants Next, which has a booming online marketplace, Marks & Spencer, which is rapidly adding third-party fashion brands, John Lewis and even Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group.
It was built in Guildford in the 1960s and became a thriving shopping hubGuildford Society
AlamyThe site is set to be transformed into nearly 200 homes[/caption]
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
