please empty your brain below
The nefarious candy shops have now all become London Gift Shops instead. Perhaps Westminster council could go down to Villiers Street instead where several have popped up, but you never see anyone inside actually buying any London themed tacky gifts.

David A | 31.10.24 - 7:49 a.m. | #

Number 313 Oxford Street W1, constructed circa 1870/1880 originally built as a public house but now a commercial premises housing a Swatch watch shop.
The building is now a Grade 2 listed Shop and commercial premises. c.1870-80 with mid C20 shop front to ground floor.

fishislandskin | 31.10.24 - 8:23 a.m. | #

I can’t wait for the pedestrianisation. There’s so much potential on this street but at the moment it’s an overcrowded nightmare which I only visit as a last resort.

Dan | 31.10.24 - 8:36 a.m. | #

The HMV shop is the essence of Oxford Street for me, apart from getting my first long trousers in Selfridges. HMV has gone through many changes over the years, but going downstairs in the current version is akin to a time portal to the 1960s.

Bryn Davies | 31.10.24 - 8:39 a.m. | #

The link you gave for the M&S that Michael Gove allowed to be knocked down actually says that M&S successfully appealed against Gove's decision to refuse permission for demolition.

dg writes: tweaked, thanks

Michael Churchill | 31.10.24 - 8:39 a.m. | #

I used to love wandering around the stationery department of Selfridge's, tucked away in the basement. An ocean of paper in different colours and textures, a delightful hidey-hole.

Also I love the idea of the Seaford Mods. Cos anything Lincolnshire can do, Sussex can do better ;) I imagine that are a bit less shouty and hopefully not tuneful (maybe even more moddish) than their Sleaford namesakes.

Dominic H | 31.10.24 - 8:49 a.m. | #

Even with the extinction of the candy shops this street is still something of a dump. Pedestrianisation is probably its only hope.

E | 31.10.24 - 10:10 a.m. | #

Never really noticed the lack of pubs before.
A prime spot for a Wetherspoon I'd have thought

Karl, Dover | 31.10.24 - 10:23 a.m. | #

Haha, there was a repeat on TV not so long ago of Clive James's Postcard from London from many years ago.

As well as visiting Oxford Street (which he describes as "a mile of nothing") he actually spends some time talking with Stanley Green.

RogerW | 31.10.24 - 11:01 a.m. | #

The lack of pubs is a puzzle as you say.
There were 27 pubs on Oxford St back in the 1890s according to this video.

Andy, Herts | 31.10.24 - 11:05 a.m. | #

Gosh, the linked-to Wiki entry needs a thorough update. Using some of your findings would be a good start.

Peter | 31.10.24 - 11:50 a.m. | #

Sunday mornings in town FTW.

Lorenzo | 31.10.24 - 12:05 p.m. | #

The pedestrianisation of Oxford Street may also risk killing it off. Of the four Underground stations along it, only two are accessible, the key one of Oxford Circus specifically isn't. Those with mobility restrictions need buses: given so few routes are left there now, be interesting to know how the footfall has changed and whether the Liz Line altered it (again?).

The Street cannot survive without a decent variety of public transport and taking out the buses has been (IMHO) one of the biggest transport mistakes in London in decades.

So... Keep the buses (and add more), let taxis in as well but no other daytime traffic (lorries etc can deliver 'out of hours'), restrict their travel speed to not more than 15mph. Restructure the Street with just one lane each way, bus stops and taxi pick-up/set-down points in frequent laybys. Slow to traverse yes but very safe and very accessible.

Joel | 31.10.24 - 1:23 p.m. | #

I wonder whether Disney's lawyers would be interested in the y of Candylogo's logo.

Gunnersaurus | 31.10.24 - 1:38 p.m. | #

Moving buses out of Oxford Street would make Bond Street (an Elizabeth Line station) less accessible to the travelling public - they should have put at Marble Arch where it could still be reached after the changes.

It's interesting that it's a Labour administration that wants to remove the buses, have the passengers use the servants entrance round the back.

Still Anon | 31.10.24 - 2:26 p.m. | #

A couple of memories of Oxford Street. The raft over Oxford Circus station when it was rebuilt in the sixties and the artist Michael Landy who took over an empty shop and shredded everything he owned.

mclm | 31.10.24 - 4:53 p.m. | #

Gunnersaurus - The Disney font is called Waltograph and is a freeware license.

Patrick | 31.10.24 - 6:56 p.m. | #

The shop that houses Niketown, Vans and will also house Ikea is notable both for being historic (listed), and a former department store.

It was built in the 1920's by the Peter Robinson department store business, who developed the Topshop brand (which became the successor to the department store). The building retains internally the grandly decorated tea room space, which has vaulted ceiling with murals of victorian operas, later used as office space (which is how I experienced it). I think the space is now part of the space occupied by Niketown (to be used for events) but rarely open to the public.

120 Oxford street is also a listed building that was a department store, but gutted 2018 to provide modernised retail space (NEXT) and office space (designed for Arcadia)

MilesT | 31.10.24 - 8:00 p.m. | #

Sometime home of two cinemas that were part of my earlier life — Studio One, where I saw 101 Dalmations as my first-ever film in a cinema and the Academy cinemas, next to M&S’s Pantheon store, which were home to all the best European directors, including Chabrol, Rohmer, Bunuel, Truffaut et al. Both venues long gone, more’s the pity.

Labourer | 31.10.24 - 8:53 p.m. | #

Had my first McDonald's in Oxford Street. Got the number 8 from Bethnal Green and headed up west for an apparent treat. Have to say I did enjoy it except for the pickle I guess this would have been about 77 or 78.

Wasn't aware that The Tottenham had changed its name to The Flying Horse.

Paul | 31.10.24 - 11:21 p.m. | #

To me Oxford Street just seems incredibly depressing now (as encapsulated by the disappearance of all but onw of the pubs) - but I am always surprised at how popular it seems to be with young people from the outer zones of London, while the rest of the West End is generally patronised by tourists and the office classes.

Quincey | 01.11.24 - 7:03 a.m. | #

Killing a major through route for buses, to try rescue a dying shopping street seems dubious to me.

The 2 Westfields and online shopping have removed Oxford Street's unique selling point, which won't come back.

Mikey C | 01.11.24 - 6:28 p.m. | #

Your email doesn't seem to work.
How about a Picasso visit?

thanks
Nick (NZ)

Nick | 02.11.24 - 12:48 a.m. | #

The hoardings on the Elephant used to have the most absurd quotes I've ever seen. I wonder if they are still up?

I hope cafes and F&B comes along with pedestrianisation. It seems to be a key point in successful pedestrian zones over in mainland Europe. Makes it a place you want to stay and spend time in -- window shopping very much does not count.

matthieu1221 | 02.11.24 - 1:10 a.m. | #











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