House of Fraser to shutter London Oxford flagship in January

House of Fraser’s London Oxford flagship will be shuttered for good in January. The department store, which has been trading for over two decades, was purposed built in 2001. The Art Deco building will transformed into an office block with ground floor shops and roof top restaurant.

It marks the end of an era for Oxford Street, which has lost many of its prime retail stores, with Frasers Group citing “archaic business rates” as the problem.

Frasers Group, formerly known as Sports Direct International plc, took ownership of the store in 2018 but its tenure has come to an end, reported the BBC.

Westminster councillors unanimously approved plans, which will see 100 million pounds spent on revamping the building. Ward councillor Tim Barnes welcomed the proposal: “Oxford Street has suffered particularly badly during the pandemic, but Covid-19 just accelerated changes to retail habits that were already taking place,” he said.

Frasers Group stated the store has been trading “three years longer than what was initially proposed by the previous owner”. The Group also said if business rates were reviewed it would support the future of House of Fraser, otherwise further store closures are inevitable.