Sheffield shops: Ideas pour in for new owner of Debenhams on The Moor - including 'massive Wetherspoons'

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A Sheffield city centre department store has a new owner after three years empty - and readers have helpfully suggested the best use for it.

Debenhams on The Moor was snapped up before it was due to be auctioned off with a reserve price of just £1.

The new owner and their intentions are currently unknown.

Debenhams on The Moor was snapped up before it was auctioned off.Debenhams on The Moor was snapped up before it was auctioned off.
Debenhams on The Moor was snapped up before it was auctioned off. | NW

But they could do worse than start by reading the ideas of Star readers who commented on our Facebook page.

Kirk Wilson suggested a “massive Wetherspoons.”

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The popular chain is well known for buying large heritage buildings and turning them into thriving pubs.

Anita Marshall thought it was a “brilliant idea.”

She said: “We need more bars for the older generation with entertainment. Us over 60s are still young at heart and want all this.”

Andrew Davison was even more ambitious.

“Combine a massive Wetherspoons and fish and chippie.”

Many others wanted some form of retail in the building.

Tracey Deenah said: “City centre indoor shopping mall. Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and probably others all have this in the same area of the city.

“For us in Sheffield, there are hardly any decent shops in the city and then having to travel to Meadowhall if we want a better choice. Very poor!”

Kath Donoghue was more specific.

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“A good quality department store to get people back on the Moor. Meadowhall took everything away from there and The Moor needs regenerating.”

Some were more specific still, with quite a few calling for the return of John Lewis.

But Rob Hatfield felt that was unlikely.

He said: “Love all the people wanting a John Lewis, while not understanding that online shopping is better and that's why it closed down.”

Debenhams store on The Moor in Sheffield on its last day of trading, May 15, 2021Debenhams store on The Moor in Sheffield on its last day of trading, May 15, 2021
Debenhams store on The Moor in Sheffield on its last day of trading, May 15, 2021

Roz Henstock thought it would make a good food hall.

There are four food halls close by and Dale Horsfield felt it would be too much.

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He said: “Please not another communal food hall, bowling alley or cinema.”

Siobhán Gillespie was another who knew what she didn’t want.

“Anything but yet another sports shop, pound shop or budget supermarket.”

Mandy Allen-Haynes went on a full nostalgia trip.

“I’d like C&A, BHS, Woolworths, T J Hughes, Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop and maybe Redgates please.”

Antony Charnock tapped into a Sheffield obsession.

“A Henderson’s Relish megastore.”

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Robert Newbolt thought it would make a good walk-in health centre.

Meanwhile, John Matthews harked back to a busier time.

He said: “The Moor is finished until they allow cars back in the shopping areas of Sheffield. Cars and traffic flowed freely up and down The Moor until Sheffield City Council got their hands on it.”

The Moor was pedstrianised in 1979.

NewRiver, the company that owns The Moor, had previously attempted to seize control of the building. It served a Section 146 notice to try to force the surrender of the lease on ‘disrepair’ grounds.

But it did not comment on the sale.

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Debenhams closed in 2021 after the retail chain went bust. The building on The Moor was snapped up by a company called Lewisham MHA 5 Ltd for £1.5m the same year.

Lewisham MHA 5 Ltd went into liquidation in July last year.

Before then it tried to find a tenant, tried to sell it and proposed a ‘People’s Store’ selling second hand goods.

In 2022, Sheffield City Council welcomed a proposal to demolish the building and replace it with flats, offices and a hotel.

The authority wrote to owners MHA stating it was ‘broadly in agreement’ with plans for two buildings of up to 22 and 34 storeys for ‘retail, food and beverage, leisure, residential, office, hotel and public realm’.

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