AN Asian food chain is planning to fill an empty unit in Oxford’s main shopping street.

Itsu will be opening its first branch outside London in the site in Cornmarket, which until March was occupied by budget book shop The Works.

The company, which has 39 shops and two restaurants in London, is currently recruiting staff for the shop, which will create 11 jobs.

Spokeswoman Sophie Meyer-Ohlendorf said: “We are aiming for mid-September opening but cannot yet share a confirmed date.

“We feel Oxford is a very vibrant and buzzing city – a great first step outside of London.”

In March bosses at The Works said that while sales were good, rents and rates meant they had to close.

The shop had been open since 1998 but its unit has been empty for the past three months.

Graham Jones, spokesman for traders’ group Rox, said: “I think it would bring a good variety to the city centre.

“Cornmarket has one of the highest footfalls in the UK of any street and Oxford is an attractive place for these companies to come.

“It is an incredibly cosmopolitan city. The big chains which are not in Oxford, want to come here.”

But he added that this creates a challenge for the city’s independent retailers.

Samantha Bennett, owner of the Oxford Sandwich Company in the Covered Market, said: “To be honest I think there are enough food shops in Oxford and we really don’t need another.

“The whole of George Street is food now. I don’t think there is one retail shop left there.

“We could do with some cheaper shops to get people in. When you go shopping here the only shops which are busy are Primark and Poundland.”

Wine seller Oddbins in High Street closed in 2012 and became clothing store Sweaty Betty last year.

Itsu was founded by Julian Metcalf, the co-founder of sandwich chain Pret a Manger.

The Piccadilly branch of Itsu gained worldwide attention in 2006 when former Russian secret service officer Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with the radioactive element polonium before going on to eat there.

 

HISTORIC BUILDING

The Cornmarket Street building has a rich history and it won’t be the first time it has served food.

It was the Granby’s Head pub in 1794 and changed its name several times over the years to the Marquis of Granby in 1842 and the Leopold Arms in 1880.

In about 1905 it was split into two businesses, with a pub called the Northgate Tavern on the left and a bicycle shop on the right.

It would be nearly 100 years before the two shops became one, when The Works took over in 1998. During that period it was home to Harlequin Record Shop, West World Leather, Jean Factory and the Oxford & District Co-operative Society. The Northgate Tavern closed in the early 1970s.