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Whitgift Centre ever-present Sainsbury’s opts to shut up shop

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CROYDON IN CRISIS: Latest exit of flagship store will be a hammer blow to the town centre. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

The exodus of major stores from the blighted Whitgift Centre is about to get worse still, with Sainsbury’s to close their supermarket in the town centre in less than three months’ time.

The Sainsbury’s store was one of the first to open its doors when the Whitgift Centre opened more than 50 years ago, and its closure was described as “the end of an era” by one town centre business source.

Sainsbury’s departure is the latest hammer blow to the prospects for the town centre, after more than a decade of development blight prompted by the on-off-on-off-off-off again plans from Westfield and their cheerleaders in Croydon Town Hall. Any new “masterplan” presented to Croydon Council later this year by developers Westfield will have to take into account the absence of its major supermarket.

Hard business: Sainsbury’s operates four of its ‘Local’ stores within half-a-mile of the Whitgift Centre

The Whitgift Centre has been hobbling along, trying to maintain the pretence of being an attractive retail mall, since the closure of anchor department store Allders 10 years ago. That building’s “meanwhile” use, as the “Village Outlet” was kiboshed by the council, on behalf of Westfield, in 2019 and has been empty ever since.

More recently, rival supermarket Waitrose, on George Street, closed last year, while the Whitgift Centre’s branch of WH Smith decided to halve its floor space by abandoning its first-floor premises.

NatWest, the last high street bank to be based in the Whitgift Centre, is to close its branch there next month.

And there are as yet unconfirmed reports that another significant, larger Whitgift Centre store is also considering closure.

Flagship store: a packed Sainsbury’s supermarket in the Whitgift Centre on opening day in 1969 (fruit cocktail 1/11!), with then store manager Ronald Guiney

Sainsbury’s decision to vacate the Whitgift Centre is likely to stoke speculation that Marks and Spencer may opt to do the same, especially as they have recently opened a large new store on the Purley Way.

The loss of Sainsbury’s from the Whitgift Centre will be a serious blow to the local economy and to the vitality of the once-thriving shopping mall.

Sainsbury’s has been a Whitgift Centre ever-present since its opening day in 1969, when it was the retailers’ largest supermarket (they boasted as much in an ad in the Croydon Advertiser at the time), at a time when they also hosted guided tours of American business partners around the Croydon store to demonstrate that they were the very epitome of 20th Century consumerist modernity.

One town centre business source suggested that the departures of Sainsbury’s, NatWest and others may be linked to the Whitgift Centre’s latest round of lease renewals. Or non-renewals.

“Many of the stores there have lost patience with the owners and the constant delays and uncertainty over the redevelopment,” the source said.

“They’ve had some scaffolding up recently, all fenced off, which is another off-putting factor about the place, as they carry out some long-overdue roof repairs.

“Handing out free or very-low rent premises to ‘meanwhile’ use pop-ups and charity and community interests cannot mask the continuing decline of the Whitgift Centre. And they won’t be able to replace Sainsbury’s with a pop-up store.”

Staff at the store have been placed under strict orders not to talk to the press, but they have confirmed the closure. Some have been offered work at other stores, but there will be some job losses.

Something to boast about: Sainsbury’s advertising from 54 years ago

The business consideration behind the decision may be obvious: footfall – the number of customers visiting the Whitgift Centre – has not managed to return to pre-lockdown levels.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has a clutch of its “Local” outlets nearby: outside East Croydon Station, close to West Croydon Station, on Brighton Road, on the High Street and on the busy Wellesley Road junction. None of them offer as extensive range of goods as is available in the Whitgift Centre supermarket, but all of them charge premium prices for their convenience store opening times.

Sainsbury’s had not responded to Inside Croydon’s invitation to comment by the time of publication.

Read more: What will the ‘new’ Westfield deal really mean for Croydon?


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