The Whitgift Centre in Croydon features in the music video for Taylor Swift’s latest single Opalite – but the run-down shopping destination has been branded an ’embarrassment’ by locals
Fed-up locals have begged for a ‘ghost’ shopping centre that stars in a new Taylor Swift video to be torn down – because there are barely any shops left open.
The Whitgift Centre in Croydon was once a prime retail location, but years of neglect and a failed plan to turn it into a Westfield has seen it become an ‘embarrassment’ to the London borough, with many shoppers saying they now prefer to go elsewhere. On the afternoon the Mirror went to check out the newly-famous shopping centre, we found it mostly deserted, with the few punters around telling us how ‘disgraceful’ and ‘horrible’ the building has become.
The majority of the retail units were shuttered, and buckets were being used to collect rainwater dripping from the leaky old roof.
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It wasn’t always this way, and some shoppers spoke of their fond memories of the centre’s glory days. Marilyn Demmen, a 75-year-old who has lived in Croydon her whole life, said: “It used to have loads of lovely shops. We used to have Debenhams, Kennards… we had British Home Stores, Mothercare.
“It used to be one of the best shopping centres, Croydon. Not now. It makes you want to cry when you see it. Because you just walk in there… and there’s nothing”.
She said that back in the 1960s and 70s, the centre was thriving, but the empty units, dripping ceiling and tired décor are “driving people out of Croydon to be honest”.
One security guard working in the centre meanwhile revealed that, despite the centre being largely empty most of the time, he still has plenty to do – recalling one incident where a confrontation involved “30 people against three” guards. Some of the troublemakers are would-be influencers looking to take advantage of the centre’s empty corridors to make their videos, he said, who don’t take kindly to being told to leave.
Marilyn joked that Whitgift now has “more security guards than they have shops” – and like many locals we spoke to, she blamed a complicated ownership situation for the centre’s woes. While the Whitgift Foundation, a charity which can be traced back to the Elizabethan era, owns the land, the business side has changed hands many times.
Until recently, the shopping centre operated as a joint venture between Westfield and developer Hammerson called the Croydon Partnership, but in 2023 parent company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield became the sole owner when it acquired Hammerson’s 50% stake.
This churn of ownership means repeated promises of redevelopment simply haven’t materialised, with decade-long plans to convert the building and the adjacent Centrale shopping centre into a Westfield ‘super-mall’ being shelved after the latest deal.
A public consultation on the future of the two sites was held last year, with URW expected to submit a full planning application by mid-2026. One of the mooted proposals includes converting some of the empty retail space at Whitgift into 3,000 new homes.
Martin, a 69-year-old local, laid the blame for the centre’s decline on “16 years of bad management”. The former BT worker explained that the building once housed the “training ground” for his job – and branded the neglect of the precinct “disgraceful”. “Go look at Bromley”, he said. “Bromley’s had the same problems we’ve had here. Or go and look at Sutton. They’ve had the same problems. But their shopping areas are quite full of people.
“I’m not really slagging Croydon off, I’m just disappointed that it looks like it does when you see the other boroughs either side and they really have picked up. It’s quite disheartening. “It’s lack of money, lack of people. If you go to the car parks, just for example… High Street car park. Five pounds for two hours. These car parks, the ones that are here, £7.50. That one over there, £3.25. But, what I’m saying is, who’s gonna come here and park here and pay seven pounds to come to this?”
Jim Attwood, who was 83 on Thursday and recalls seeing Buddy Holly perform at the former Davis Theatre nearby many years ago, said that he was “not proud” of the Whitgift “at all” – and now simply goes elsewhere to shop. He explained: “There’s nothing in there, nothing at all. Marks is about it. But for clothes and all that… it’s gone.”
This week, the dilapidated shopping destination had a rare brush with stardom after eagle-eyed Taylor Swift fans recognised it in her latest music video. The 90s-themed clip for new single ‘Opalite’ shows Taylor and Star Wars actor Domhnall Gleeson descending an escalator while clutching a pair of pretzels. The Whitgift also previously featured as the backdrop for the 2023 fantasy-drama flick All Of Us Strangers, and was recently being used as a film location for the upcoming Rebel Wilson comedy Girl Group.
Charlene Charles, founder of the Pamper, Indulge and Give charity which provides opportunities for local children aged five to 11, welcomed the pop icon’s unexpected appearance – and hoped it would give the area a boost. “It might bring the place up… superstars are good”, she said, adding: “I think it puts an eye on Croydon – there’s always an eye on Croydon for all the bad things, so it’s nice to have something good.”
Her friend and colleague at the charity, Isis Bernard, agreed, and said: “I think it has potential, but just needs a lot of love. Even if you look at the logo – the M&S logo – it’s old, and things just haven’t been updated.”
The future of Whitgift centre continues to divide local opinion, and while Marilyn pleaded for someone to “do the shops up” and “bring back some of the old shops” so locals could be “proud of it” again, others have lost patience. A less optimistic shopper said: “It needs to be knocked down. One hundred percent!”
The Mirror has approached Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield for comment.
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