The Oxford shops which people miss most in the city centre

There are countless reasons for the drastic changes recent years have brought to the UK’s high streets, from the rise of online shopping to world-altering events like the Covid pandemic.

The shopping heart of Oxford is one such place where the retail scenery has developed at a fast pace within the last decade, with many new shops springing up, as well as some long-standing ones being lost.

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We asked Oxford Mail readers which shops they missed the most, and we got hundreds of responses.

One of the most missed shops repeatedly mentioned was Boswells of Oxford, the city’s late, great independent department store.

Boswells of Oxford, Broad Street, 1992 (Image: Oxford Mail archive)

Boswells opened in Cornmarket in 1739, and was the second oldest family-owned department store in the world when it closed in 2020.

Considered a local shopping landmark, the Boswell store in Broad Street – where it opened in 1929 – was popular for toys, kitchenware, luggage, gifts and all sorts of other goodies.

After 282 years of trading, the store hosted a closing down sale in 2020, and the Broad Street building has since been turned into luxury hotel The Store Oxford, which opened four years later.

Coming in a close second for most missed was Debenham’s, another department store of a bygone era.

The former Debenhams in Oxford (Image: Andy Ffrench)

The three-storey branch of the popular department store on the corner of George Street and Magdalen Street closed early in 2021 after the chain went into administration.

Now, the prominent city centre site will be turned into life sciences lab space by new owner, The Crown Estate, much to the disappointment of shoppers.

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Another well-missed shop from the city was the Disney Store at the corner of the Westgate, which closed in 2007 ahead of the shopping centre’s major – and somewhat delayed – renovation.

A visitor to the Disney Store near the Westgate in Oxford, 1994 (Image: Oxford Mail archive)

Taking a left-turn away from department stores and big names like Disney, another much-mentioned and dearly missed shop from Oxford was Gordon Thoday.

Gordon Thoday was a fabric shop in the 1970s, which occupied a huge retail space on Cornmarket Street which is now a McDonald’s.

It was a beloved haberdashery for sewers and crafters while it was open, and Gordon Thoday fabrics remain coveted antique pieces among enthusiasts.

Gordon Thoday Fabrics in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, 1986 (Image: Oxford Mail archive)

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Another store with its own successful niche was Gill’s, or Gill & Co as it was formally known, the High Street shop which claimed to be England’s oldest ironmonger before it closed in 2010, after 480 years trading.

Several readers mentioned how much they missed Gill’s Hardware, which had operated from Wheatsheaf Yard for 50 years when it closed, but the original shop opened in Cornmarket, centuries before.

Other much missed shops include fashion retailers which have closed stores nationwide – some more recently than others – including New Look, River Island, C&A and MK One.