Selfridges' new owners reveal plans for London store

Selfridges‘s famous London flagship store may have an exclusive hotel and serviced apartments added to it, the chain’s new owners revealed.

“Lots of potential beyond retail”

Just before Christmas, the Weston family sold the iconic department store chain to the Thailand-based Central Group and the Austrian Signa Holding for the some four billion pounds (4.7 billion euros). Both parties took a 50 % stake in the joint venture.

Signa’s chairman, Dieter Berninghaus, revealed the potential plans for the Oxford Street site: he wants to upgrade the existing food hall, but sees many more opportunities beyond the retail side of things. For example, he envisages the development of serviced apartments. Moreover, part of the building, which once housed a hotel but has been vacant since 2008, may return to its former destination.

Data from CoStar Group, a company that provides commercial property information, shows that five out of every six of the most important British department stores were lost in the past five years. Both changing shopping habits and the pandemic played a significant role in this. Around 240 department stores are still awaiting a new destination, FashionUnited writes.