r/croydon • u/Jamity647 • 1d ago

Whitgift Closing Down?

Is it true that the Whitgift will be closing down? Is so sad if this is the truth 😞. I have been visiting it for the past month or so as I heard these rumours but got told they might not be true??? Is it not going to close down after all?

Many thanks

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u/turbothingy 1d ago

It's a shame cause it was once a top class shopping centre. They built centrale in the 2000s just across the road, then started telling everyone westfield was coming. All the business is just spread thin now, it's no wonder half of the shops are empty.

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u/BluejaySignificant82 1d ago

definitely out of curiousity tho what caused the decline of that part of croydon? i lvie in thonrnton heath and see a significant diff to the city when walking into town
1. the west croydon area has massive potential with trams
2. the east croydon area outguns the area just by the massive buildings and classy feel
3. scratch everything i said because those tunnels that are in the underpass of the intersection off the high street/park lane are full of piss and i've unfortunately seen excretement sitting firmly there one tiem too

Big exhausted SIGH
For what its worth Croydon is malleable- offers a fair bit

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u/AntysocialButterfly 23h ago

I used to know people who owned a unit in the Whitgift Centre around twenty years ago, and they said the rent was comparable to Bluewater for a fraction of the footfall.

That goes a long way to explaining the churn of units outside the anchor stores even when the Whitgift Centre was a lot closer to being fully occupied.

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u/turbothingy 21h ago

Does all that money go to the Whitgift foundation then? I bet they own half of the town centre