// Westminster City Council begs landlords of Oxford Street’s American candy, vape and souvenir stores to take action
// Out of the 19 major property groups hosting the stores, six have served notice or brought in different retailers
Westminster City Council has written to the landlords of Oxford Street’s American candy, vape and souvenir shops begging them to take action.
Councillor Adam Hug has requested that the landlords do “all that they can” to bring the influx of American candy stores on the street to an end, Retail Week reported.
Hug wrote to 19 major property groups, whose retail units host 26 of the candy or souvenir shops, and said six had since served notice on the tenants and brought in different retailers.
“The recent rise of these shops is diminishing the value of our local high streets both financially and reputationally – they risk the recovery of the West End and the value of your property,” the letter said.
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“We are considering all options available to us to ensure that those enabling these businesses to thrive selling unsafe goods and destroying our high streets are persuaded to address this issue in whatever way they can.”
Hug added that the popular London shopping street should not be exposed to “these sham operations any longer”.
The council suggested the units be used for the West End Pop-up scheme as an alternative to short-term leases that are “currently squeezing the value out of the area”.
In March, Westminister City Council called for a “stronger” economic crime bill and reform of business rates to put an end to the American candy stores and souvenir shops that continue to “litter” Oxford Street.
The call came after a survey by LDC found the number of candy shops on Oxford Street had returned to peak levels despite a clampdown in November.
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