The former BHS building in Southport town centre has been sold for half a million pounds at auction.
The three-storey building, at 19-21 Chapel Street, was one of the chain’s 164 stores which controversially went into administration in April 2016, resulting in the loss of 11,000 jobs nationwide. As well as Southport, BHS also lost shops in Liverpool, St Helens, Warrington and Widnes. The closures ended an 88 year presence on the high street.
Since the closure, the 53,339 sq ft former BHS Southport store remained empty for a few months before being occupied by the short-term Winter Wonderland store on a rolling contract.
Allsop auctioneers has now sold the ‘freehold department store and development opportunity’ building for £500,000.
The firm said that ‘the property may lend itself to a variety of alternative uses and redevelopment, subject to obtaining all the necessary consents’.
It is not yet known what the new owner’s plans are for the landmark site.
David Myers, who runs David H Myers Opticians in Southport, told the BBC: “Retail has to change, we haven’t got a choice. Multi-storey shops won’t exist in Southport in future.
“We’ve got to get this town looking right again.
“The BHS building is lovely and has real potential. It needs a change of use, for instance there could be a hotel or residential on the upper floors and then split the ground floor for smaller, individual shops with realistic rents and rates.”
The former BHS building on Chapel Street in Southport.
Photo by Andrew Brown Media
Like Southport, most of the BHS units were very large, with multiple floors, and costly to re-let.
Of the 91 stores which have been re-occupied, more than one fifth (20.9%) have now been taken on by Primark.
Next has taken on four former BHS sites. B&M Bargains, H&M and Poundland have also acquired some of the space. In Southampton they split the store to create two units for Holland & Barrett and Sports Direct.
Before coronavirus struck, landlords increasingly looked to leisure to help fill the gaps with venues like mini golf, rock climbing and gaming becoming more popular. But now this sector has been hit hard by the pandemic and is focussed on survival right now, rather than expansion.
In March this year, Southport’s two remaining department stores, Beales and Debenhams on Lord Street, both closed.
Both sites were among sites included in the Southport Town Deal ‘Big Ideas’ proposals with suggestions that Beales and Wayfarers Arcade could host a new dining, cinema and events space, with the possibility suggested that Debenhams could become a mix between co-working space and apartments.
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