John Lewis has announced plans to open a new 230,000 sq ft store in the Westgate shopping centre in Oxford.
The new shop, which is targeted to open in autumn 2010, will anchor the refurbished, redeveloped and extended Westgate centre.
It will represent a £40m investment.
The Westgate centre is more than doubling in size from its current 230,000 sq ft to 750,000 sq ft and will be a mixed retail and residential open street scheme by joint developers Capital Shopping Centres and LaSalle Investment Management, acting on behalf of the British Coal Industry Pension Fund.
The new extended centre will also include 80 shops, 120 apartments and a 1,335 space multi-level car park.
John Lewis retail development director Ann Humphries said: “We are delighted to have found the right location for John Lewis to serve Oxford and the extensive Oxfordshire catchment area”
Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, leader of Oxford city council, added: “John Lewis will be an exciting addition to Oxford city centre as the cornerstone of the rebuilt and re-vitalised Westgate centre.
“This will help to secure the future of Oxford city centre for years to come.”
CSC director Richard Cablesaid: “We are very pleased that John Lewis have confirmed their commitment to Oxford – we know from our extensive public consultation process that the store is eagerly awaited by local residents.
“Our design team have created an exciting retail environment with a rich and varied architecture and have been working closely with John Lewis to create a distinctive store, unique to Oxford.”
References: EGi News 09/03/06
