Clarks to open new store in Westgate this month

Shoe shop retailer Clarks will be introducing a "modern workshop" to the Westgate Centre in Oxford.

Customers have noticed new signage at a unit in the shopping centre in recent weeks advertising Clarks.

The new store will be opening on Monday, June 10.

The Clarks shop in Cornmarket Street and the new store in Westgate will be open and trading for the next three months, and then the Cornmarket Street store will close.

The Westgate store will then be the only store open from that point.

The new shop will "go beyond retailing shoes into the realms of connecting with consumers through multi-faceted brand experience".

It comes as a number of Clarks stores have shut their doors this year, including Abingdon, Wallingford and Bicester Outlet Village.

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Clarks in the Bury Street precinct in Abingdon served customers for the last time in April.

Staff had served customers for at least 20 years and there was very little notice of the closure.

Shortly after this announcement, it was discovered that the Wallingford branch of Clarks in St Mary's Street, thought to be part of the same franchise, was also closing down.

And Clarks in Bicester Village also closed down at the end of 2023 with store staff going through "a period of consultation" regarding their futures after the decision was announced.

But the opening of a new store in the Westgate Centre breaks this recent trend of stores closing down.

Customers making a purchase in the old store in Cornmarket Street will be able to receive a 15 per cent off discount off their next purchase in the new Westgate store.

There are also plans for there to be a Clarks Creates customisation event in the new store on the weekend of the June 29 and 30.

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The store has been constructed to embody the brand’s trademark craftsmanship and industry leading innovation via a contemporary new look, bold design storytelling and rebooted merchandising.

Materials throughout the ‘Modern Workshops’ aim to creatively combine Clarks’ architectural heritage and vision for the future.

The ply used is inspired by the brand's iconic design workshop in Street, Somerset and references the wooden lasts that the brand still hand craft for every pair of shoes designed.

With community at their core, Clarks’ people first spirit will be cemented by in-store activations, events, and services.

The footwear chain was founded in 1825 and operated across more than 1,400 stores and franchises internationally at its peak but, as of July 2023, the brand had just 320 stores.

Clarks has headquarters in Somerset.