Fashion retailer River Island is to launch an Oxford Street flagship in September opposite John Lewis.

The 13,000 sq ft (1,205 sq m) store will include destination areas for footwear and accessories, to allow River Islandto better compete with specialist retailers. The three-floor shop will replace a smaller River Island store already on Oxford street.

The retailer’s opened stores in Manchester and Leeds earlier this year, using a newer version of the shopfit that launched in Brent Cross shopping centre a couple of years ago.

The modernisation of the River Island chain was one of the key factors to prompt a profit rise in the retailer’s most recent accounts, filed last November at Companies House.