Westgate – fashion retailer to take over River Island

Clare Martin, the new centre director, said the Westgate has a “very strong pipeline” for the future.

The past 12 months have seen several new venues opening at the Westgate, often taking over units that have left due to company-wide issues such as falling into administration.

Lego is the most recent arrival, which Mrs Martin said has been a huge hit with shoppers and serving much of the south with the nearest being Milton Keynes or Southampton.

River Island at the Westgate Centre (Image: Andy Ffrench)

Sephora has also opened in recent months, along with Snowflake Gelato, a Trinny London concession in John Lewis and a larger Accessorise between Clarks and TK Maxx.

Oliver Bonas also recently moved from its home on the ground floor to a much larger unit on the middle floor, near the Queen Street and Bonn Square entrance.

Although Mrs Martin wouldn’t reveal what the new “large-format mixed fashion retailer” is, an announcement would be made in the next few weeks.

She said: “They’ll be coming on to Bonn Square. So they’ll actually be taking the old River Island unit.”

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River Island left the Westgate on January 31 as part of the company’s restructuring plan, which had to be approved by the High Court.

The London-based company’s rescue plan involved closing 33 stores and paying reduced rents on another 71 shops.

Meanwhile, the optician David Clulow is also expected to open later this month on June 26, signage says on the window.

Clare Martin, Westgate’s new centre director (Image: Westgate)

Mrs Martin said: “We’ve also got health and beauty services, built really on the success of things like Sephora’s opening last year.

“We’ve got more of everything coming and we have got a really good pipeline. And brands like Sephora and Lego don’t come to a place like Oxford or Westgate if they don’t believe they’re going to be successful.”

And it’s not just the people of Oxfordshire attracted to the Westgate thanks to the new brands opening.

“We’ve got a really broad catchment area,” the centre director added. “[We get people coming from] Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Banbury, Reading, as far as Aylesbury and even London.

“We track all of those and we also track things like what we call domestic tourists who are outside of that catchment as well.

“And they are a core part of our business, as well as our local community and our local shoppers.”

Mrs Martin has been at the Westgate since 2018, working in various roles including the deputy to the former boss.

An Oxfordshire local, she brings a wealth of experience in the retail, food and beverage, and leisure sectors to the role.