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Bloomberg
Debenhams Plc is in talks to rent out excess space in its flagship London department store to flexible-office provider WeWork Cos. as the UK’s retail crisis deepens, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The retailer is searching for companies willing to take over large chunks of space in its roughly 240 department stores, many of which are too big now that e-commerce accounts for 18 percent of the UK’s retail sales. Debenhams is also testing smaller formats and opening in-store gyms to fill unused parts of stores.
British retailers including Tesco Plc, J Sainsbury Plc and Next Plc have been striving to fill oversized stores through partnerships with other retailers, cafes or restaurants, but haven’t tapped office providers yet.
WeWork is growing rapidly. Three years after entering the British capital, it has signed leases that will make it the city’s No. 1 private-sector user of office space, according to data compiled by CoStar Group Inc.