London Shopping in the West End

There are More Shops in London than in Paris and Rome Combined

Sep 25, 2008

London's West End attracts over 200 million visitors a year, many of them coming to sample the best London shopping on Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Bond Street.

Of London's 200 million annual visitors (which is more than the populations of the UK, France and Germany combined), it is estimated that 25% come from overseas, 21% from outside the London area, and the remaining 54% are Londoners themselves.

It's estimated that there are more shops in London's West End than in the centers of Paris and Rome combined, and 80 new stores have opened in London in the last 3 years alone. In the 2007 Visit London Awards, Oxford Street was voted the best destination for a shopping experience, and many of London's stores and streets have become travel destinations in their own right. From the fun of Carnaby Street to the chic of Bond Street, and from children's stores like Hamley's to fashion outlets like Topshop.

The World's Biggest Fashion Store

Topshop's Oxford Street shop is its flagship British store, and indeed is the world's largest individual fashion store. That one shop alone brings about 200,000 people a week into London's West End – or over 10 million visitors a year.

The Biggest Toy Shop in the World

Hamley's toy shop is the most famous toy shop in the world, going back to 1760 when William Hamley, who grew up in Bodmin in Cornwall, decided he wouldn't be a fisherman or a tin miner, like most other young men in the area. No, he had a dream to open the best toy shop in the world – and this he did. Hamley's is also now the biggest toy shop in the world.

Other London West End Shops

Some of the other famous names in London's West End include Liberty's, Selfridges, Armani Exchange, Apple, Abercrombie and Fitch, Pretty Ballerinas, and Banana Republic.

In all London's West End boasts over 600 shops, not to mention 40 theatres, 30 museums and galleries, and 17 restaurants that have at least one Michelin star. There are also 7 parks and other green spaces, including Hyde Park with over 350 acres. Little wonder that London is one of the world's favorite city break destinations. Nine out of ten visitors to London go into the West End at some point in their visit.

London's 2012 Olympic Games

With the next Olympic Games already being planned and worked on in London, the West End and its shops are not being left out. The retailers and property owners in the West End have formed the New West End Company, and along with the office of London's Lord Mayor they are investing £40 million in improvements. These will include:

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