Primark Heading For Piccadilly Circus?

The former Zavvi store at Piccadilly Circus still has posters advertising comedy DVDs in its windows but the doors are closed, the lights are off and sheets of A4 announce the chain's demise. As the shutters come down on high streets across the country, it's a wake-up call to see an empty retail shell in one of London's prime tourist locations.

The site has had a rum deal lately, what with Tower Records, Virgin Megastore and now Zavvi having to take down their branding in the last three years. But it looks like Eros might be getting a new neighbour sooner than we thought...

Enter Primark. It's been an on-off week for them; they lost their Ethical Trade Initiative credentials when it turned out one of their suppliers has been paying workers well under the minimum wage but also bucked the retail trend by reporting an 18% surge in sales. As shoppers turn to budget clothes to match their tighter budgets (New Look and Peacocks are also doing pretty well), Primark is rubbing its hands with glee and eyeing up the Zavvi sites on Piccadilly Circus and the eastern end of Oxford Street.

We think this is a good idea - Primark's flagship store by Selfridges is little more than a scrum at times so anything that stops the 'overtrading' (lovely euphemism for bargain grabbing and people trampling) is fine by us. And a Primark near Tottenham Court Road might help improve the dodgier end of Oxford Street. Every cloud, eh?