Five years on from the closure of former high street staple BHS, the plight of the department store format has not got any easier. According to data compiled by commercial property information specialist CoStar Group more than 80% of the UK’s department stores have closed since 2016.

The data shows that of the 388 department stores that had closed, 237 still stand vacant. However, plans are in place or in process for a change of use or repurposing at 52 of them. 

Retail Week examines six examples of former department store space being repurposed for new uses from the UK and around the world. 

E-karting at Gravity, in a former Debenhams store in Wandsworth

E-karting at Gravity, in a former Debenhams store in Wandsworth

E-karting and digital darts

Cosmetics, homewares and fashion have made way for e-karting, urban golf and digital darts at the former Debenhams store in Wandsworth’s Southside shopping centre.

The southwest London department store has been replaced by Gravity, which brings together a host of leisure and entertainment activities spread across 80,000 sq ft.

Urban golfing at Gravity, in a former Debenhams store in Wandsworth

Urban golfing at Gravity, in a former Debenhams store in Wandsworth

The format unveiled in August at Southside is the first of its kind from Gravity, which has 16 other UK locations, offering activities such as crazy golf and trampolining. 

It was created in partnership with Southside owners Landsec and Invesco Real Estate, to “redefine the destination’s offer and support the introduction of new and innovative concepts”. The venue is designed to attract families during the day, while older visitors are catered for in the evenings with live music and a cocktail bar. 

Gravity co-founder Harvey Jenkinson said: “We are using new technology to create immersive experiences in strategically important locations in the centre of towns and cities that will attract new customers, increase footfall for landlords and breathe life back into the high street, replacing traditional shopping with fun and entertainment.”

Art fairs and galleries

How Art House may look in the former Barneys store on Madison Avenue

Barneys on Madison Avenue will become Art House

It is not just in the UK that new uses are being sought for one-time department store premises.

In November 2020, New York’s famous Barneys store at 660 Madison Avenue will be turned into Art House, incorporating galleries, art dealerships, a restaurant and cultural events. 

The launch of Art House “recognises the importance of culture and creativity in the regeneration of cities around the world”.

The venture has been supported by Authentic Brands, the owner of famous names including Barneys and Forever 21, and which has just agreed the $2.5bn (£1.8bn) acquisition of Reebok from Adidas.

Monopoly Lifesized

Paperchase Tottenham Crt Rd

Former Paperchase store on Tottenham Court Road

A lifesized Monopoly experience has taken over a former Paperchase store on London’s Tottenham Court Road.

The immersive show, which costs just over £50 to play, is a mixture of escape rooms and the classic board game - on one of three giant boards named The City, The Vault and The Classic.

The three-storey space also includes a Monopoly-themed shop, and a bar and restaurant named Top Hat where players can relax.

Chief executive of Gamepath, who designed the experience, David Hutchinson said: “For us, Monopoly Lifesized represents a major entry into a growing and exciting marketplace. 

“Audiences want to consume live performance differently, and what better way than to jump into a life-sized version of the world’s favourite board game? 

“After everything we’ve missed out on individually and collectively and given the decimation of our high streets and city centres, it’s really exciting to be launching this now – we hope that we’ll be able to contribute to the recovery of Central London, and bring people back together in our fabulous capital with a major new attraction in a major new destination building.”

Monopoly Lifesized is the first of a set of central London locations which will be dedicated to live gameplay.

Hope: The Anti-Super Supermarket

Anti super market outside

A former supermarket space in New Brighton has been revamped to become the “anti-super supermarket”.

The new venue will offer live music, a bar, and a recording studio, alongside artisan local retailers.

The store space - which has been home to a Budgens, Kwik Save, and a Co-op over the years - will be transformed into a community hub as part of a £6.5m revamp of the town.

Local entrepreneur Dan Davies, and his development project Rockpoint, have already invested in renovating a middle eastern restaurant, record store and pub.

Davies said of the supermarket plans: “The idea is to add in a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, but also give a platform to have retail, clothes, craft, apparel, but have a spin on it in a different way with live music and entertainment and a craft brewery in the back and a recording studio in the top.

“We want to really give it a more vibrant feel. That’s what we wanted and are trying to create.”

Johnnie Walker Whisky Experience 

Johnnie Walker experience render

Set to open on September 6, the Johnnie Walker Whisky Experience is taking over all eight floors of the former gargantuan House of Fraser on the western end of Edinburgh’s iconic Princes Street. 

The eight-floor building has been entirely renovated by drinks giant Diageo. Among the attractions are a rooftop bar and an events room that will host live performances throughout the year. 

Diageo have also promised a “multi-sensory, immersive visitor experience” across three floors, guiding people through the 200-year history of the brand; a bar academy and a Johnnie Walker retail space at street level based on its Madrid flagship which opened in 2018. 

Diageo managing director Barbara Smith said: “Johnnie Walker Princes Street will offer something unlike any other visitor experience in Scotland. It will be a venue for everyone, whether that’s visitors to Scotland or local people in Edinburgh, Scotch whisky lovers or those savouring Scotch whisky for the first time. We can’t wait for you to join us.”

Prior to its acquisition by Diageo, the building had served as a department store since 1893. From the 1890s until 1928 it was known as ‘Robert Maule & Co, Department Store’, and boasted one of the first tea rooms and electric lifts in Edinburgh. It was acquired by House of Fraser in the 1950s, and operated under that branding until HoF went into administration in 2018. 

While the House of Fraser brand was acquired that year by Sports Direct, the store was one of the first earmarked for closure.

Zed Adventures Z-Mart CQB

Leisure operators Zed Adventures took the former 40,000-plus sq ft Debenhams in the Kennet centre in Newbury, Berkshire in April, 2020. 

Zed Adventures have turned the former department store into an airsoft gaming zone. Airsoft is essentially paintball, but customers fire plastic projectiles rather than paint.

The new experience is set over two floors and features “open plan game zone, winding corridors, dark stairwells, vaults and rat runs”, according to Zed Adventures’ website. 

The business had previously run an airsoft experience in the old Friars Walk shopping centre in Reading, and was the first occupier of the Kennet centre site since the previous Debenhams unit closed in 2014. 

Zed Adventures managing director Ben Swift said: “We are very excited to be part of the Kennet shopping centre, to be able to offer our customers an indoor arena once more and welcome new customers to this unique leisure experience for the first time in Newbury.”

The new Z-Mart CQB experience is set to open in Newbury on September 20, 2021.