// Value of seized goods from Oxford Street’s American candy stores reach more than £1m
// Around 11 stores are set to have new tenants soon
Around 11 American candy and souvenir shops on Oxford Street are set to switch hands after the spaces have been put up for sale.
Several of the units which house American candy and souvenir shops are currently under offer with other retailers, according to Drapers, which could see the spaces occupied by high profile global brands, according to property agency Savills.
This comes as the value of unsafe or illegal goods seized from the store on London’s busiest shopping street topped £1m earlier this week.
Westminster City Council reached the milestone on Wednesday following a raid on two of the stores where £145,000 worth of illegal vapes, counterfeit goods and unsafe electricals were seized, Retail Week reported.
The council, which described the two raids as “astonishing”, said they were a demonstration of how prolific American candy shops had become despite the crackdown on stores.
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Last week, it was revealed that the number of American candy stores on Oxford Street had returned to peak levels despite a third of the shops closing down due to a clampdown on trading standards.
Westminster City Council leader Adam Hug told the publication: “[The] raids on US candy store and souvenir shops on Oxford Street is the latest in our ongoing operations to stop the sale of unsafe or illegal goods and means that, over the past 15 months, we have now seized more than £1m in items, from super-strength vapes to designer fakes.
“That is an astonishing amount of fake and potentially dangerous items taken off the streets of the West End.”
The shops on London’s busiest shopping street have been accused of being at the centre of a tax-evasion scandal which Westminster City Council estimates the businesses owe taxpayers £9m in unpaid business rates.
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