Debenhams: Shoppers react to the ‘great news’ of the prospect of a new department store in Sheffield

The five-storey building looks set to be snapped up by an “overseas store group”, according to agent Anthony Lorenz, who is handling the sale for London firm MHA.

Mr Lorenz said: “We have got a purchaser who wants the building as a store and we are pushing on that. They are an overseas store group and they want to reopen it as a shop with loads of concessions inside.”

The store on The Moor has been empty since May 15th 2021 when the Debenhams chain closed with the loss of 12,000 jobs nationally. Online retailer Boohoo bought the brand for £55m.

Mr Lorenz added if the deal fell through, another firm was keen to run the building, also as a department store.

City resident Sylvia Jones spoke of the plans for the store and the city centre.

“Great news. Let’s hope it comes to fruition,” she said. “Sheffield needs more large retailers to come into the city. There’s nothing to travel into the city centre for anymore.”

Sheffield City Council has also given a provisional green light to a plan to replace the building with 22 and 34-storey towers. Uses could include shops, leisure, flats, offices or a hotel if that goes ahead.

Steel City resident Gary Moore said: “Get it open as a new store. Good old council wanting everything to be made into flats officers and towers of rubbish.”

Karen Brown also welcomed the prospect of a new department store and condemned the prospect of the building being turned into flats.

“Good news. I went into town yesterday for the first time since the pandemic. Oh my god. It was awful so many closed shops and hardly any people there. Sheffield has truly gone downhill. What are the council doing apart from killing it? Shame on them. No wonder people would rather go to Leeds or Manchester.”

Many suggestions have been put forward for possible uses for the Debenhams building, including turning it into a city centre hospital.