Canary Wharf Elizabeth line station a retail flop? M&S pull out
Ok so before we get going let me state Canary Wharf Elizabeth line station isn’t a ghost town – but is it failing to meet expectations?
A reason for this post is that passenger numbers so far on the south eastern branch to Abbey Wood via Woolwich show both those stations meeting or even exceeding Canary Wharf station – and recently even shops like M&S have already shut up shop in Canary Wharf station.
Recent data shows Abbey Wood saw 14.2m passengers annually compared to 14.1m at Canary Wharf. Despite being a rail connection with Southeastern services (albeit they reduced services shortly after the new line opened) did many expect that?
Who would have thought footfall would be insufficient to sustain shops in the new station such as M&S?
Of course work from home plays a role but many businesses are reverting back and the sheer number of businesses at Canary Wharf should enable retail units to be occupied.
I mean, I grew up in Abbey Wood but many Londoners couldn’t even pinpoint it on a map ten years ago – and it’s not changed that much. Whenever I was out of London I’d say I was from Woolwich or Greenwich. Not to sound posh in the case of Greenwich but because everyone knew it. Explaining where Abbey Wood is? Blank faces all round.
And yet we’ve seen more passengers at Abbey Wood than a station in the world famous financial behemoth that is Canary Wharf.
Poor layout
Clearly M&S expected more custom at Canary Wharf station. They wouldn’t open then so shortly after. So what’s happened?
Well, a few things. Firstly the station is a hassle when navigating various levels heading between work and a train. Get in a lift and it’s, say, showing floor -4, then +2 and then street level or some such nonsense. I knew M&S closed and was heading there to take a photo for this post. I’ve been there a few times when it was open and thought it odd a new M&S closed so soon. I still selected the wrong bloody floor in the lift.
Yes, maybe I’m an idiot.
I did however end up ascending to the Everyman cinema. I want to see Sonic with my daughter yet I shuddered at how much they would ask.
So it’s not quite completely dead – but empty units and closed shops doesn’t give the sense it’s thriving.
After going to another lift I was finally back at the now dead premises of a lost M&S. And that was when actively looking for it.
In short, the station layout and signage seems poor. It’s not intuitive nor geared towards major passenger flows.
It’s also to the north of the estate rather than slap bang in the middle with the Jubilee line. Which gets us onto another issue.
Development
That wouldn’t be a massive problem if Canary Wharf group had developed a large amount of land beside the station at North Quay. Residents moving there would work out the somewhat confusing layout of the station and retail units.
Only Canary Wharf group havn’t built new homes and there are few locals. Long standing plans for high density residential blocks have so far gone nowhere.
Shops like M&S may have survived and others have been taken on with thousands more potential customers living on its doorstep.
Back in 2007 an approved planning application first proposed large commercial offices and retail. A further mixed-use application was submitted in April 2017 but later withdrawn.
Plans come and go but for 20 years little has progressed.
On the rise
But good news! At long last after 20 years of the site being empty development is underway at North Quay near the station. A life sciences block to be precise. But no housing. Enough to bring a buzz and life to the station? Unlikely in isolation.
Yet what of the walkway proposed to link this whole area to the north and Poplar which would also have seen greater footfall long term and reduced severance? Scrapped.
Billingsgate market also occupies a plot nearby to the north east. There we’ve seen the City of London fannying around on what to do with that site. Move to Dagenham? Cancelled. Keep it here? Nope.
All these delays and prevarication from neighbours Canary Wharf Group and the City of London (I always find slightly fascinating that both financial centres in London sit cheek by jowl at this spot) has seen no homes, no businesses and few in the area who would use the Elizabeth line. It’s nearing 20 years since the Elizabeth line was approved and three years since it opened – and that date was delayed. Still much land sits idle.
With all that in mind it’s no wonder the station shopping floors aren’t busy and retail space is either empty – or once occupied and promptly vacated by the like or Marks and Spencer – who normally have half a clue about custom levels.
There’s a deeper issue here. For all the PR from TfL about the line triggering development – which it has in part – a staggering amount of proposed development has gone nowhere around many stations.
We see that all too clearly at Abbey Wood where passenger numbers would be even higher if Peabody didn’t sit on acres of land doing little for 11 years and counting. Many plots seconds from Abbey Wood station are owned by the group with no plans to complete until the late 2030s. This is crazy in a housing shortage.
At Canary Wharf it’s similar with little happening with new homes directly beside the Elizabeth line station.
So if recent levels of investment in new infrastructure isn’t see a flurry of building at plots beside new stations, one wonders just what it will take.
Woolwich and Abbey Wood benefit from a classic lobby-to-platform layout, roughly a minute from one to the other. Canary Wharf from the Jubilee Line is close to eight minutes if you know the route – that’s longer than transferring from the Jubilee to Northern lines at Waterloo, and on par with the walk from King’s Cross Thameslink to the Victoria Line. If you’re making a connection, particularly with luggage, it’s just another subway to negotiate.
M&S is not particularly good value either, which may factor in the mind of the transient consumer. While it’s better than being swindled by the likes of WHSmith, that’s not saying much. Look at the numbers in Greggs at North Greenwich at any given moment, then cast your eye towards the half-empty Pret across the way. You can see this too with the near-desolate food & coffee places under London Bridge and compare it to the ceaseless activity in McDonald’s. I imagine something with hot snacks would do much better.
I go through there a lot changing between lizzy and jubilee line. Honestly it’s impossible to tell there is a retail space there. It’s not on any of the natural routes people take.
Instead, there’s a giant Waitrose between the two (assuming you take the quicker route), that I’m sure most the customers this M&S would take use.
compare it to Woolwich M&S that is always heaving specially in the evening. It’s a very simple case of location, location, location.
(see also the weird new shopping bit in Waterloo that’s dead)
It’s in an odd spot. I’m a bit surprised Canary Wharf who built the station didn’t lower rents to keep them there for now.
The location means it was off the radar for many heading to and from offices and the station which as you say is why it needed local custom from adjacent sites earmarked for residential. What has stopped Canary Wharf building the thousands of homes they’ve talked about for years? We keep hearing planning permission is holding up sites but this is another where that’s just not a factor and it couldn’t be better located for transport. Good old scarcity of housing supply to keep prices up? We see it so often.
I’m not surprised. Even the Jubilee line or DLR stations require a bit of walking to reach the retail spaces. The Elizabeth line station is vast and orientation is problematic. The Elizabeth Line into Canary Wharf also excludes a good deal of south east London with only two stations south of the river, and a long gap between Woolwich Arsenal and Custom House.