Liverpool's department stores are facing a crisis thanks to the pandemic and rapidly changing shopping patterns, according to a heritage campaign group.
Save Britain's Heritage, a charity campaigning to rescue historic old buildings, has compiled a report which assesses the current landscape for department stores. It notes that the pandemic has accelerated a move away from high street shopping, “causing the collapse of high-profile chains and leaving thousands of shops vacant and at risk.”
The report details the fortunes of 46 of the UK’s most significant department store buildings, eight of which are situated in Liverpool - the most out of any city included in the report. Save Britain's Heritage argues that 18 of these former high street fixtures are now at serious risk being lost forever.
READ MORE: Challenges, opportunities and what comes next for Liverpool city centre
Three of the eight Liverpool department stores are seen as at risk. It states that new ‘viable uses’ can be found for historic department stores to avoid being redeveloped.
These includes the former Blacklers Department Store on Great Charlotte Street, which survived significant bomb damage during the Blitz and was renown for its Christmas displays. Another is the TJ’s department store at Audley House on London Road. The retailer announced that it will be moving from the site to a more central location, with the building the subject of residential redevelopment plans. Its neighbouring Hughes House has already been demolished to make way for flats.
The final building in the ‘at risk’ category is the former George Henry Lee’s department store on Church Street. The building has been the subject of a range of proposals but currently still houses high street retailers on its lower floors.
The charity’s report also includes profiles of Lewis’s, Compton House, Littlewoods, Owen Owen and Woolworths. Only Littlewoods building is still trading and is now the home of Primark. Woolworths has been redeveloped, Compton House has been restored to house Marks and Spencer, while Owen Owen and Lewis’s are undergoing redevelopment.
The report states: “In a new era when large-scale retail is no longer sustainable, these fine structures are at risk of dilapidation or even demolition. And as these hubs of daily life are erased from the map, local communities feel increasingly disenfranchised. Protecting and reviving these buildings is not only a matter of preserving precious and distinctive architecture; it is an opportunity to restore a sense of place.”
Last year, one of the city’s more modern department stores, Debenhams, closed its Liverpool ONE store. Earlier this year, the council gave the green light to convert its upper floors into a go kart attraction. Further down Lord Street, the former BHS department store has partially been taken over by H&M and Roxy Ballroom.
Marcus Binney, executive president of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, says: "A decade of online shopping and covid have brought an avalanche of closures. A race is now on to put life back into them. It’s a tough challenge but as [the] report shows there is hope too.”
