EXCLUSIVE: Months late, and with only six of the seven units allocated, Westfield is finally about to find a use for part of the town centre’s former department store. By STEVEN DOWNES
Slow motion: Westfield will be opening just two of their Allders kiosks this week. The others? Who knows?
More than a year after being granted planning permission for seven kiosks in a “meanwhile use” of the ground floor of the Allders building on North End, Westfield today notified their few remaining tenants of the Whitgift Centre that new stores will be opening this Friday.
Just not all of them. Not yet, anyway…
And just as with so much that Westfield has offered since they arrived in Croydon more than a decade ago, it looks like too little, too late, and with yet more broken promises.
But they have given it a new name: “Allders Parade”, as if it is some out-of-the-way, provincial parade of shops, which would usually perhaps include a bookies, a newsagents and a “hair salon”, rather than the once proud focus of town centre trade.
Florists: Isle of Flowers is one of several kiosk-holders who are already Westfield tenants elsewhere in London
The kiosks have been the focus of much positive spinning by Croydon’s increasingly desperate Mayor, piss-poor Jason Perry, who has been leading guided tours of gawping property speculators behind the hoardings to see the vacant frontage of the once proud department store.
But the reality is that, despite the council bending over backwards to grant planning permission in record time last summer, the kiosks are still opening months later than hoped.
And instead of seven kiosks in operation, Westfield – now trading as the Paris-based Unibail Rodamco Westfield – have named just six. Of which just two will be ready for business later this week.
Inside Croydon can reveal that the”confirmed” new tenants are:
- Sky – the broadcast media giant already has outlets at Westfield’s Stratford and Shepherds Bush shopping malls
- Isle of Flowers – florists. Also with a store in Westfield Stratford.
- Coco and Nut – coffee shop and caff. They have a branch in Sanderstead
- Melting Moments – ice creams. Kiosk delays means they have missed this summer’s trade. Previously traded in the old Allders.
- Abaci – “fashion retailer”, according to Westfield. Turkish-manufactured hijabs and Islamic clothing.
Having the frontage of the old Allders, from No2 to No28 North End, opened up once again will undoubtedly help relieve some of the sense of a high street wasteland. But it is hard to see this collection of Westfield tenants providing the transformation so desperately needed.
The Allders building has been closed since 2019, when the then Labour-run council sent in a team of bailiffs to kick out the various small businesses that had set up shop in the empty building, the bizarre bazaar that was the Croydon Village Outlet. These were pop-ups. It is telling that it has taken Westfield five years to come up with a replacement for the Allders pop-ups: more pop-ups.
As recently as July, none other than Mayor Perry himself was boostering the scheme, saying, “This autumn, seven new units will open in the refurbished shopfront.” True to form, Perry and his mates at Westfield, have managed to over-promise and under-deliver. Again.
No explanation has been given for the delays in opening, or the 14% shortfall in traders taking up the Westfield kiosks.
Nothing to show for 13 years of Westfield: property speculators have been allowed to gawp at the empty kiosks in the ‘Allders Parade’
The announcement sent to Whitgift and Centrale shopping centre tenants this morning came from Dominique Stagg, the marketing manager for the Westfield-owned malls.
“We are pleased to share some exciting news for Croydon town centre: the historic Allders building on North End is being brought back to life as Allders Parade – a new parade of shops that will enhance the offer alongside Centrale and Whitgift.
“The North End frontage of the building has been sensitively refurbished, creating four new shops and two food and beverage units. This development will introduce a mix of local, regional and national retailers, providing a fresh boost of activity and confidence in Croydon’s future,” Stagg wrote to her long-neglected tenants.
“The shops will open in phases, starting this Friday with the first two stores, followed by further openings every fortnight through October.”
And according to the person employed by URW as a marketing manager, after 13 years of her company’s broken promises to Croydon, “This is an important milestone for Unibail Rodamco Westfield as they continue to invest in Croydon, creating vibrant retail, leisure and community spaces. We look forward to welcoming these new tenants and the additional footfall they will bring to North End and the wider town centre.” Whoop-de-fucking-whoop.
In her sign-off, Stagg encouraged her company’s tenants “to share this positive news with your teams and customers”.
Positive news. Pass it on.
Read more: ‘Permanently closed’: Whitgift Centre works mark end of days
Read more: Council rushes through permission for seven kiosks in Allders
Read more: Hammer blow for Whitgift Centre with new delay to masterplan
Read more: Millionaire pulls plug on Mayor Perry’s ‘big idea’ for Allders
Read more: Tories warn residents: don’t be ‘negative’ about Allders murals
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