Popular retailer shuts its London flagship Oxford Street retailer in newest blow to the British High Street
A popular retailer is set to shut its Oxford Street store in the latest of many closures on the iconic shopping street.
The shop specialises in souvenirs and gifts such as clothing and keyrings with a London theme.
Cool Britannia has multiple shops across London including stores on Leicester Square, Buckingham Palace Road and Whitehall.
There are also stores in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Oxford, Canterbury and Kent.
The news was shared by a shopper who posted a snap of the store on Facebook with closing down sale posters on the windows.
He wrote: ‘Cool Britannia in Oxford Street has a closing down sale, reflecting on what’s happening to our great country.’
It is unclear why Oxford Street’s Cool Britannia is closing down but data suggests more than two per cent of space on Europe’s busiest shopping street is vacant.
This is the lowest level of occupancy since 2017 and it comes as a number of flagship stores warned they would struggle to remain open on the popular stretch of road.
Oxford Street is one of the world’s busiest shopping areas, with around half a million visitors each day
Oxford Street’s Cool Britannia is popular with tourists and specialises in souvenirs and gifts such as clothing and keyrings with a London theme
Oxford Street is one of the world’s busiest shopping areas, with around half a million visitors each day.
Its shopping opportunities were formerly compared with the likes of Paris and New York but the shift to online shopping and the impact of the pandemic have left the street a shell of its former self.
Earlier this year MailOnline reported the owners of Park House, home to the likes of Pandora, Swarovski, Urban Outfitters and River Island, said the retailers want to exit their lease on the street ‘at the earliest opportunity‘.
It comes after Sadiq Khan revealed plans to pedestrianise the capital’s famous shopping street within two years to boost the experience of shoppers, residents, workers and tourists.
In January, it was also announced that Microsoft would be ending its lease early on its flagship Oxford Street location.
The enormous store closed for good last month in order to ‘focus on digital growth’.
As big names such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Oasis and Warehouse disappeared, city centres across the country were left with empty windows and people instead searching for their favourite labels online.
But it’s not all bad news for Oxford Street shoppers.
The highly-anticipated IKEA flagship store is set to open on 1 May following an extensive environmental upgrade.
