TK Maxx is planning to open a store near Piccadilly Circus after being told it “wasn’t posh enough” two years ago.

TK Maxx is in discussions with landlords to open a store on Haymarket, close to Piccadilly Circus in the former Burberry HQ building at Scotch House, 18-22 Haymarket, according to The Independent.

The off-price fashion retailer agreed a deal for a shop on the south side of Piccadilly Circus in 2009, but the freeholder, The Crown Estate, objected to the letting, deeming the retailer not good enough for the area. If it secures the deal to open a store at Haymarket it will be just yards away from the original site.

The Crown Estate does not have any say over the letting of the Haymarket store, the paper said.

TK Maxx has been scaling back on expansion as profits at parent company TJX Europe fell 52% last year. In the long term, TJX Europe plans to grow to between 750 and 875 stores.

Jones Lang LaSalle is advising on the sale of the Haymarket building, after its previous owner Paul Kemsley’s Rock group was placed into administration in 2009. There are now two parties vying to buy the building. TK Maxx is lined up to be the retail occupier when the sale is completed.

Topics