Swindon’s former Debenhams store could be turned into 200,000 sq ft of storage place under new plans.
A proposal has been submitted in a joint application by current owners Meadow Partners and inner-city self-storage operator StoreAway to repurpose the building.
Under the plans, the now-closed department store would be replaced with 900 lockers inside the building. The building has been vacant since 2020.
According to StoreAway, the acquisition would be part of a UK drive to transform more than a quarter of a million sq ft of redundant retail space on the UK’s high streets into storage space.
Work could begin in the landmark building’s lower three storeys and basement as early as spring 2023, with the StoreAway team “keen” to preserve the retail element to the ground floor frontage, it said.
Joint managing director Richard Lanyon said: “We really want to make this building a part of our nationwide strategy, especially at such an important time in the town’s regeneration. The store is situated in an extremely important location, linking Kimmerfields to the town centre, and is adjacent to the new bus boulevard and opposite a recently agreed 400 apartment housing development.”
Mr Lanyon said StoreAway’s offering would be “of particular benefit” to the local community and businesses. “It’s an idea inclusive of all demographics, from those moving house and needing a place for their furniture, companies requiring extra stockroom space or individuals on the lookout for a place to store their clutter,” he added.
The former Debenhams building was built in the mid 1960s as part of the Parade Shopping Centre on Fleming Way and originally housed Bon Marche with the department store later occupying the property.
Debenhams fell into administration in 2020 for the second time in a year. It is among a long list of retail brands that collapsed during the first year of the pandemic – many of which have since not reopened.
StoreAway opened its flagship store in May in a 36,000 sq. ft former department space in the heart of Liverpool’s shopping district Liverpool ONE and has confirmed further sites in Birmingham, Basildon, Cheltenham and Bath, which will launch over the next few months.
Managing Director of StoreAway Christian Yates added: “The flexible space aspect will be attractive to local businesses and tradespeople especially start-ups who are not in a position to commit to long term leases and who need flexible, convenient space to store samples, stock, records, files and equipment. For retailers in particular, inner city self-storage is also increasingly forming part of the ‘last mile’ logistics distribution process.”
