John Lewis to anchor £1.4bn Westfield Croydon mall

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 31, 2018

The giant mall development at Croydon in South London will be anchored by a co-located John Lewis and Waitrose store with development partner Westfield saying the department store and its sister supermarket chain were the most requested names consumers wanted to be added to the £1.4 billion mall.

The mall, which is being built on the site of The Whitgift Centre, will be created under a joint venture deal between Westfield and UK property specialist Hammerson. 

Westfield Europe head of development John Burton said: “The Croydon Partnership is delighted to deliver two of the UK’s leading brands. This is a major milestone and is a demonstration of the strength of Croydon and the project. John Lewis is the most requested addition to the town centre and its arrival will ensure Croydon’s future as the retail and leisure capital for south London.”

Work will start on the mall next year with space for 300 stores and estimates so far suggesting it could generate £745 million in annual turnover, which would boost the overall retail turnover in Croydon by more than 50%.

John Lewis is currently one of the anchor tenants at the giant Bluewater mall in nearby Kent and also shares its space there with a Waitrose supermarket in the basement.

In Croydon’s case, the overall 165,000 store will cover four floors with Waitrose at ground level and the John Lewis department store having three dedicated floors.

However, there are also concerns that the mall’s development will dent stores in other parts of Croydon as well as in nearby Bromley and Sutton. And the John Lewis news has added to those fears.