Oxford Street has been through many changes during its long history — from its association with the Tyburn gallows to the transformation of Oxford Circus by John Nash — but has rarely seemed so dispiriting as it has in recent years. A street where the original department stores first flourished, from Selfridge’s to John Lewis, has turned into a grim mix of American candy shops of dubious repute and cheap retail chains. But change for the better is underway: about £1 billion is being invested in Oxford Street, not least by new owners of the former Debenhams and House of Fraser stores.
It’s only a year since one retailer called Oxford Street a “national embarrassment”. Now there’s an influx of new and familiar outlets, including the return of HMV to its old site, and investment by Westminster council and the New West End Company in broader pavements, seats and trees. It’s a welcome renaissance. Once, Oxford Street was an inviting mixture of the grand and the popular, places of entertainment like the Pantheon and the Princess’s Theatre, and a diversity of retailers, including a showroom for William Morris’s wares. It would be good if the new developments could offer scope for small independent businesses as well as Ikea. It would also be good to retain buildings with some character like the Marble Arch M&S headquarters, whose fate is uncertain.
