Half of Britain’s best-known shopping street has lost its buses, and the shops that sell coats and handbags are waiting to see who walks in.
LONDON, England (Link and Lace) – The most famous shopping street in Britain has lost its buses, and a good deal of fashion retail is now holding its breath to see whether shoppers will turn up in their place. A long stretch of Oxford Street has gone permanently traffic-free, and the people who sell coats, shoes and handbags along it are watching the pavements the way a nervous host watches the front door.
What actually changed on the ground
According to FashionUnited’s account of the switch, almost a kilometre of Oxford Street between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street is now closed to through traffic, which frees roughly half of the street’s 1.2 miles for pedestrians. Cars, buses, taxis and bicycles are all kept out, and deliveries are allowed only overnight, from midnight to 7am. Emergency services keep access through the cross-streets.
City AM’s report adds the practical detail: buses are being rerouted via Wigmore Street, Henrietta Place and Cavendish Place, with new stops about 200 metres from the pedestrianised stretch, and temporary arrangements apply over the Christmas shopping season.
The layout is described as a transitional scheme, a trial that lets the Mayor of London and Transport for London test the street before a permanent design is settled. The first phase is expected, by spring 2027, to bring more than 50 new trees, two public squares and over 100 seats and dining tables. In other words, the street is being asked to behave like a continental piazza before the piazza has been built, which is roughly how most of us approach a gym membership.
Why fashion retailers want this to work
The prize is large. Sadiq Khan says the street generates about 3.1 billion pounds in spending each year, a figure repeated in AFP’s wire story, which also records him calling it “a momentous day for Oxford Street, but also for London.” The same report notes the street has struggled since the pandemic and the shift to online buying.
The mayor has been plain about the sort of shop he would like to see more of. City AM reports that he wants good-quality shops to replace low-quality souvenir and sweet shops, and that he hopes the street can eventually stand comparison with the Champs-Elysees in Paris and La Rambla in Barcelona. Anyone who has shuffled behind a tour group on a Saturday will understand the ambition, if not the timetable.
The retailers who spoke to the trade press were largely welcoming. Dan Parr, who chairs the property body Revo, called it “a very welcome initiative” and said he expects higher footfall and spending, according to FashionUnited. John Lewis, which has traded on the street for more than 160 years, said the change would complement its own investment in the store. At Selfridges, chief retail and digital officer Meave Wall described a new chapter for one of the world’s most iconic high streets.
Who is not cheering, and why that matters
A fair account has to include the doubters. ECCO’s chief commercial officer, Neal Taylor, welcomed the move as a positive step but told FashionUnited that practical questions about access and daily operations still need attention, and that the brand will adapt as plans develop. That is a polite way of saying that a shoe shop still needs a van to reach its stockroom.
Westminster City Council is considerably less polite. Its deputy leader, Tim Barnes, said the scheme feels rushed and under-resourced, as City AM reports. The history explains the temperature: the council blocked an earlier pedestrianisation proposal in 2018, after which the mayor set up the Oxford Street Development Corporation, which took key planning powers from the council. Residents have raised fears that diverted traffic will clog neighbouring roads, and say the new body reduces their say.
Access for disabled people is the other open question. AFP reports that disability rights activists have objected, and its reporting from the street, republished by The Star, quotes a taxi driver who said disabled passengers would have to walk about 140 metres behind the stores to reach a cab. Khan’s answer is that nearby cab ranks and bus stops keep the area accessible, and Transport for London says it will monitor traffic and make adjustments where needed. Both claims are testable, which is the best thing that can be said about a trial.
Rents: the part nobody can pedestrianise
Footfall is only half of a retailer’s sums. The other half is the lease, and the street offered a live example within days of the traffic ban. HMV said it will leave its flagship at 363 Oxford Street in March 2027, and ianVisits reports that the company blames a proposed doubling of the rent plus heavy renovation costs, calling the shop commercially unviable.
The landlord’s side of the argument arrived quickly. Retail Tech Innovation Hub reports that the lifestyle chain Miniso is preparing a 19,000 square foot flagship at the same address, with no opening date given. Sam Foyle of Savills, who acted for the landlord, credits pedestrianisation plans with building momentum and says brand interest in the street continues. Read together, the two stories sum up the bet being made: tenants say rents are climbing faster than their sales, while landlords say demand is strong enough to justify them. Only one of those can be right for long.
HMV is not a fashion retailer, of course, but the clothing shops next door pay rent on the same logic. If the street does draw crowds, the winners will be the brands whose tills can turn extra browsers into buyers, rather than the ones who simply gain a better view of passers-by.
A note for readers who want the comedy side
I also write for The London Prat, and the arrival of a car-free Oxford Street has, unsurprisingly, kept the humorists busy. If you want the jokes rather than the junctions, there is Britain’s answer to the Onion, plus London humor news for the daily fix, and, for passengers waiting at one of the relocated bus stops, a Cockney rhyming slang explainer. Bohiney Magazine covers the American end of the same trade, should you fancy a transatlantic laugh. You can find more of my London fashion reporting at The London Prat.
What to watch before spring
The honest summary is that nobody knows yet. The scheme is a trial, the permanent design is unsettled, and the evidence that will settle the argument, footfall, till receipts, bus times and the experience of disabled shoppers, has barely started to arrive. Khan has said the remainder of the street may close to vehicles if the first phase succeeds, which makes the next few months an audition for the rest of the road. For fashion retailers, the practical advice is the oldest in the trade: keep the windows lit, keep the stock moving, and see who comes through the door once the buses have gone.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/