Updated: Forever 21 confirms it will open in London's Oxford Street

Forever 21, which opened its UK debut store in Birmingham’s Bullring last Friday, has been scouting for a site in central London for some time.

The site, at 360 Oxford Street, is located on the west side of the street, next door to the shop which Spanish fashion house Desigual has secured from Disney. Forever 21 paid £13.75m to HMV to acquire the lease.

The store, at 35,000 sq ft, is HMV’s second site on Oxford Street. HMV’s flagship store is at the east end of the street, sized at 50,000 sq ft. HMV recently signed a new 10-year extension to its east end store.

The deal is thought to be an assignment of the lease, moving from HMV to Forever 21.

Larry Meyer, Forever 21 executive vice president said: “Oxford Street is one of the most renowned shopping locations in the World and ideally suited for Forever 21. The reaction in the UK to our Birmingham store was very strong and we are looking forward to bringing our unique retail proposition to London next year.”

Simon Fox, HMV group chief executive, said: “It will, of course, be extremely disappointing when HMV closes its doors on 360 Oxford Street next April, but we are also delighted that this transaction allows us to invest significantly in our other West End stores, including our 50,000 square feet flagship close to Oxford Circus, where we have recently renewed our lease for a further 10 years, and HMV Trocadero at Piccadilly Circus. We are also pleased to maintain a presence just a few hundred metres away from 360 Oxford Street, through our existing shop-in-shop at Selfridges & Co.

“HMV’s strong London presence will also enable us to redeploy our store colleagues from 360 Oxford Street to stores within a reasonable travelling distance.”

Property agency Harper Dennis Hobbs acts for Forever 21.

Thomas Davidson acted for HMV.