Debenhams Sheffield: City centre store set to reopen before Christmas as an 'eBay you can touch and feel’

The former Debenhams in Sheffield city centre is set to reopen before Christmas as an ‘eBay you can touch and feel’.

The store on The Moor could come back to life with people selling belongings from stalls, such as furniture, mobile phones or even World War One relics. It will be backed by a website displaying items and accepting bids and a collection service to transport them to the building, according to Anthony Lorenz, spokesman for owner, London firm MHA.

Alongside them in the ‘People To People’ store will be niche retailers, craftspeople and makers on longer term deals. The plan is to open the doors before Christmas, he added.

He said: "People increasingly want to sell things, this will be like an eBay you can touch and feel. In a recession people are looking for bargain prices. There will be something for everyone."

The model was "innovative" and the only real competition was from The Moor Market, he added.

Debenhams closed when the historic chain went bust in 2021. MHA spent a year trying to let the building on The Moor before putting it up for sale. After several potential deals fell through, it developed the idea of establishing its own ‘person-to-person’ to store.

Mr Lorenz said they would be urging niche retailers across Yorkshire to take space. They were also still planning to open a food hall and there might also be a "big letting" to announce.

He added: "It’s an incredibly good building and it’s incredibly well placed. I’m pretty confident about it. It will be completely unlike High Street brands, it will be retailing with a difference."

The announcement comes as the former Debenhams at Meadowhall is set to reopen next year as a Sports Direct and Frasers department store.