Our retailing disaster correspondent, MT WALLETTE, on the latest body blow to claims that the town centre’s shopping mall is doing thriving business
Another closure: The Body Shop is the latest high street brand to desert the Whitgift Centre
The Body Shop is to close its branch in the Whitgift Centre, the struggling cosmetics retailer has confirmed.
It is the latest blow to Westfield, who manage the Whitgift Centre.
Not just to their struggling Croydon retailing business but also to their credibility, and the credibility of their portulent cheerleader, Croydon Mayor Jason Perry.
Last week, Perry was repeating the mall developers’ dubious claims that they have decent visitor numbers in their Croydon shopping centres and rental demand is at an “all-time high”. “Exciting times ahead”, parroted Perry. “Growing confidence in Croydon,” he crowed.
Except anyone with a ha’penny’s worth of commonsense, or integrity (preferably a bit of both), after a visit to the ailing Whitgift Centre, 12 years after Westfield first promised to redevelop it, would identify a shopping centre on its arse, rendered a ghost town as important stores such as The Body Shop follow Sainsbury’s and the Camden Coffee House in pulling down their shutters permanently, as Inside Croydon reported yesterday.
The Body Shop’s exit is, in fairness, as much to do with the parlous state of the retailing sector as discontent with their Westfield landlords.
Croydon’s is one of 75 store closures announced last night, adding nearly 500 job losses to the 300 jobs going at the business’s HQ, as the company’s administrators “restructure” the business.
The British arm of the global beauty chain was put into administration last month.
Shops will be closed over the next four to six weeks. As well as Croydon, other stores on the closure list include Battersea, Bexleyheath, Brixton, Epsom and Regent Street. The Body Shop in Sutton will be among 116 stores that will continue to trade.
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The Body Shop in Denmark and Belgium have reportedly gone bankrupt, and its business in Ireland is also on the brink of closure.
The Body Shop was an innovative cosmetics, skincare and perfume company when it was founded in Brighton in 1976 by environmentalist and human rights campaigner Anita Roddick.
Roddick campaigned against animal testing of cosmetics and promoted natural products sourced ethically in a way that would support small producers around the world.
Many loyal customers felt let down when Roddick and her husband sold the business to French cosmetics giant L’Oreal, the owners of Maybelline and Garnier, for £652million in 2006. The Body Shop has changed hand twice since then, with the firm losing its environmentalist market lead as rivals Lush and Rituals launched.
Aurelius, the German company that bought The Body Shop for £207million in November, said last month that it had been unable to revive the fortunes of the business after dismal trading over Christmas and new year.
“In taking swift action to right-size The Body Shop UK store portfolio, we have stabilised the business,” said Tony Wright of administrators FRP Advisory.
“We remain fully focused on exploring all options to take the business forward.”
Just not in portulent Perry’s Westfield-dominated Croydon…
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Check out that Izzy Home Store in the Whitgift, one of the dozen that Piss-Poor was so excited about. Inside it’s just another cluttered mess selling luggage and frying pans and other household tat. The equivalent at the main entrance, in what was Burton’s, is having a half-price closing down sale
Yesterday I took a walk around the Whitgift centre. Most of the units were shut. Many of those remaining were having sales of upto 60% off their stock, there were very few customers. I moved to croydon over 20 years ago and whitgift was a great place to shop and have a meal. Now the top floor is completely closed (except for the toilets) and there are buckets everywhere to catch the rain that leaks through the roof.
I can’t imagine that any business looking for premises would ever consider setting up in Whitgift. The claim that “rental demand is at an all time high” is clearly utterly ridiculous. Do those in the town hall say these things because they think they have to? Who are they kidding? It certainly wouldn’t be any potential investors.
It was depressing to see Whitgift as it is now and as I remember it before some persons thought they could do better.