London’s Regent Street struggles to draw shoppers back after pandemic, amid rise in online retail
- Store vacancies on the famous street have doubled since 2019, and rents have fallen dramatically as online business has increased
- Business owners are working to increase foot traffic and entice shoppers, and realise they have a struggle ahead after two years of the pandemic
Regent Street, one of London’s premier shopping thoroughfares, is struggling to shake off the lingering effects of Covid-19.
Store vacancy levels, at a record 12 per cent, are almost twice what they were at the end of 2019, while rents for the best space on the street have fallen by more than 30 per cent during the pandemic, according to property company Savills.
Shoppers who stroll along the curving avenue in London’s West End, passing through Oxford Circus and Piccadilly, may notice the absence of familiar brands. J Crew, Brooks Brothers, Desigual and Zara Home all closed during the two years of on-again off-again lockdowns that battered bricks-and-mortar retailers and accelerated the shift to online shopping.
“We aren’t out of the woods by any means,” said Simon Harding-Roots, managing director for London at The Crown Estate, which counts Regent Street among its £7.7 billion (US$9.5 billion) of holdings in the capital.
“There’s work to be done to get vacancies back to pre-pandemic levels,” he said. “We’re well aware we’ve got some tough times ahead.”