Croydon’s Centrale and Whitgift shopping centres are attempting to bolster the retail sector by signing seven new stores and renewing eleven leases from established companies.

This comes after years of uncertainty over the future of the borough’s main shopping centres.

Owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has announced a host of new companies coming to the central Croydon malls.

These include London’s only pinball club, Pinball Republic, Dressmode, Maflora, Rebel Clothing, and homewares company Stacks.

Alongside the new signings, a number of high-profile retailers have also renewed their leases.

House of Fraser, Sports Direct, Claire’s, Holland & Barrett, and Waterstones have all renewed their leases, representing 20,000 sq ft of floor space across the two shops.

This comes following the announcement that URW owner Allders will see 7 new retail units added to the ground floor of the iconic Croydon department store.

The iconic former department store, which closed in 2013, has sat behind colourful hoardings since January.

After revealing the Allders plans, Mayor Jason Perry said: “The proposed development is set to bring a fresh, dynamic atmosphere back to the High Street, restoring a sense of place and pride to our community. We hope to see this transformation begin early next year, providing a fantastic opportunity for local businesses to thrive.”

Back in March, URW announced another 12 new shops, including Deichmann, Chopstixx, and jeweller Loupe.

Following that announcement, Mayor Perry took X to say: “After years in the doldrums, is Croydon finally back on the retail map? The answer is yes.”

These recent signings come as much-needed good news for the shopping centres, and is hoped they will bring more shoppers to the town centre.

According to Croydon shoppers the local democracy reporting service (LDRS) spoke to earlier this year, the Whitgift especially feels a long way from its glory days when people used to flock there to spend time and money. 

During a visit to the Whitgift Centre earlier this year, an NHS worker named Don told the LDRS:  “I used to come here a long time ago, where every place you went to there was people selling something and people were wanting to buy things. How many people can you see in shops here now, maybe one or two people.”

Westfield and Hammerson entered a joint venture for the £1.4bn redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre and Centrale shopping centre in 2013.

They planned to turn the location into a popular destination for shopping and recreation akin to their centres in East and West London. 

However, the project was beset by financial difficulties, significant delays, and design modifications made worse by the epidemic.

Last year, URW acquired the remaining 50 per cent stake in the development plans from Hammerson, which put an end to the deal.

URW leasing director UK Kate Orwin said: “We have such a wide variety of retailers and occupiers at the Centrale and Whitgift centres from major global brands to local, independents, and today’s news is a testament to ongoing confidence in Croydon as a retail destination.”