On August 10, the Hollywood Bowl at the former Debenhams building in Westwood Cross will be ready for business. The £3.5 million family entertainment centre will feature 22 ten pin bowling lanes, including 4 luxurious VIP lanes, state-of-the-art amusements and a bar and diner.
At the beginning on 2021 Debenhams at Westwood Cross closed its doors forever after the ailing chain was bought by fashion retailer Boohoo.
The £55m sale meant the closure of the remaining 118 Debenhams outlets with goods being sold online only by Boohoo from early 2022..
Debenhams had been one of the anchor businesses at the Westwood Cross shopping centre since it first opened in 2005. The other anchor store is M&S.
But now it has been transformed into a centre for leisure and food with two new businesses already opened and Hollywood Bowl set to welcome visitors from this weekend.
Riparo Lounge was the first unit to open in February and is operated by Loungers, which runs more than 200 sites in England and Wales and offers a varied all-day menu including full kids’, gluten-free and vegan menus.
Last weekend Jump Inc opened its doors. The new indoor leisure park features over 35,000 square feet of interconnected trampolines, inflatables, obstacle courses, laser tag arena, and interactive challenges designed to engage visitors of all ages.
The Westwood Cross venue also features dedicated party rooms for up to 20 people and a café with refreshments and a street-food inspired menu. There will also be after school deals, toddler sessions and group events to cater to all interests and ages.
Jump Inc has seven other locations – Rotherham, Leeds, Lincoln, Sheffield, Bicester, Liverpool and Beverley – and is the trading name of Futures Leisure Ltd.
Michael Brocklebank, Director at Jump In, said: “Our new park is designed to offer a thrilling environment where people can let loose, have fun, and stay active.”
Ahead of this weekend’s opening Hollywood Bowl is looking to appoint a Director of Fun and is inviting local bowling enthusiasts to apply for the role.
The unusual job description includes testing the fun levels of everything in the new centre to check it meets the highest standard and offers the most possible fun for people to enjoy.
This will start with testing the state-of-the-art bowling lanes with their high-tech scoring systems, then enjoying the American-style bar and diner. The Directors will get to try samples of all the food and drinks, including American classics such as hot dogs, burgers, shakes and signature cocktails. There’ll then be time for even more fun in the amusement arcade, trying out leading games such as Mario Kart, as well as all-time family favourites including air hockey and racing games.
Hollywood Bowl, the UK’s leading ten-pin bowling and competitive socialising brand, is inviting candidates aged over 18 to apply here, with the successful candidates able to bring a friend or family member with them for the experience.
The successful candidate will also receive one year of complimentary VIP bowling.
Alex Poole, Centre Manager at Hollywood Bowl Westwood Cross, said: “Getting the local community involved in our opening is really important to us, we can’t wait to see who will take on this new amazing new role, and make sure everything is super fun for all!”
Guests should wear their own shoes to bowl in and are encouraged to sign up to the VIP mailing list for updates and exclusive offers at www.hollywoodbowl.co.uk/westwood-cross
The transformation of the former Debenhams building has created new venues and dozens of jobs.
Across the UK, department stores are being reinvented as student lecture halls, hotels, shared offices, go-kart tracks, indoor food markets and competitive leisure.
The need to repurpose retail space was named as the biggest concern for local authorities, landlords, developers and other town centre management professionals as part of a survey last year by trade body Revo and consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).
The research showed 61% of those surveyed believed that between 20% and 40% of retail space needs to be reinvented in the next five years for leisure, hospitality, health or civic use, with 12% of those surveyed claiming even more space than that will need to be repurposed.
Local Data Company found that a fifth of Debenhams stores, which were closed in 2021 after the department store went into administration, have been repurposed while almost half – 48.5% – remain empty.
According to consultancy Smithfield Agency the surge to repurpose stores to leisure and hospitality is driven by younger consumers and their demand for new and diverse forms of entertainment, a desire for social connection in the post-pandemic world, and the availability of previously retail-dominated space.
It is a trend that is taking shape at Westwood Cross and can also be seen in Thanet towns where High Street stores have been taken over by leisure ventures, such as Sugar Rush who are creating community theatre, a café, performance space, speakeasy style bar, studios and offices at the former WHSmith shop. They join close neighbours Arts in Ramsgate and Discovery Planet science workshops who also use former shop space.
In Margate the former M&S is earmarked to become the new Margate Digital space run by East Kent College as part of the Levelling Up scheme, although movement of this appears to have stalled.
