On almost every high street in Kent is a huge empty building which tells a tale of days gone by – when retail was booming before the online shopping revolution.

But what is happening with each of these giant units across the county? Will new shops fill the gaps, or could we see the spaces used for town centre flats? Max Chesson reports…

Canterbury – Nasons & Debenhams

Starting off with Kent’s only city, Canterbury has two notable contenders – within yards of each other.

The long-neglected Nasons department store closed in September 2018 but was once the shopping hub of the area having first opened its doors to customers in 1929.

Plans to revitalise the area are very much in the works with a £26 million development seeing the creation of a new pedestrian retail arcade, a covered market hall, offices, 33 flats and 32 serviced apartments – together called Biggleston Yard.

Going toe-to-toe with Nasons is Debenhams, which closed in January 2020 and is hoping to get a new lease of life through a £25 million flats and retail space scheme.

Maidstone – Marks & Spencer

The county town has seen its retail sector hit hard following the pandemic, but the loss of Marks & Spencer in January last year after 100 years in Week Street marked the end of an era for many.

Having seen a rival branch open at Eclipse Park on the outskirts of Maidstone little more than a year before, it was decided to let the town centre store go – with many blaming the cost of parking at the time.

The property continues to be listed as being up for sale on LoopNet, though purchasing the four-storey building would set any interested customers back £2 million.

Chatham – Debenhams

One of many Kent towns to see its biggest town centre plot left vacant by the demise of Debenhams, the Chatham High Street shop has also stayed empty since January 2020.

Before Debenhams, it was Allders – an independent department store famous in the town for its Christmas displays in its large windows – until 2005 when the company went into administration.

Medway Council bought the plot for £2.2 million in June last year with the idea of converting the upper tiers of the building into housing but, beyond a call for tenants in January, there have been next to no updates.

Ashford – Debenhams

One of the many towns which suffered from the loss of Debenhams in January 2020, Ashford has seen harder times than most as a result of its empty shops.

Built as the flagship store for shopping centre County Square’s extension, which opened in 2008, it was hoped Debenhams could play a part in turning Ashford into a retail destination that could rival Bluewater and Canterbury – though this was not how it panned out.

Plans to use part of the long-empty store for a 'leisure and entertainment' space were revealed as part of a £3.1 million town regeneration scheme last November, but whether or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen.

Rochester – Instone Shop

Known in its final years as the Instone Shop, the once asbestos-ridden property is best known for being the town’s indoor market.

Various attempts have been made over the years to transform the building into a restaurant, with the last plans in 2011 put forward by the Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel further up the High Street being approved.

And ambitious hopes of local nightclub boss Aaron Stones turning it into a strip club were dashed in 2013 – with little interest being taken in the building in more recent times.

Gravesend – Woolworths

Gravesend’s former Woolies, on the corner of King Street and the High Street, has seen its fair share of discount stores open and close including Discount UK, Bargain Buys and Poundworld Plus since Woolworths went bust in 2008.

Luckily there is hope for the store as, following a major refurbishment, it is now set to reopen as a Starbucks, though further details are yet to be revealed.

When this move takes place, it’ll leave the New Road Debenhams as the largest empty shop in the town. The store closed in May 2021 as part of the department store’s final days.

Folkestone – Debenhams

The fourth Debenhams to feature on this list, it is hoped the appointment of architects to restore the Sandgate Road property will kickstart its revival.

Having been rebranded Folca and used as a Covid-19 vaccination centre since the local council bought it for more than £2 million after it closed in 2020, the store has never been permanently used since its Debenhams days.

Folca is at the heart of regeneration plans for the town centre – with £2,278,000 earmarked for the building’s refurbishment as part of a £20m levelling up government funding pot.

Tonbridge – Beales

Yet another department store has left a large gap that has proved troublesome to fill and in Tonbridge’s case this is Beales in the Angel Centre.

Taking over from family-run firm Bentalls in 2002, Beales closed in January 2020 after the Bournemouth-based firm went into administration and was the last of its kind in Kent when it went bust.

The area’s Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat led calls to see Sainsbury’s – the holder of the lease for the site – do more to try and fill the gap but, as has been the case with many towns, genuine interest has been hard to come by.

Margate – Primark

With the arrival of Primark at Broadstairs’s Westwood Cross shopping centre in 2012, the Marine Drive branch of the budget clothing store found itself floundering and closed not long after.

Since then, it has sat empty gathering dust – though temporary art exhibitions have occasionally made use of the space – and plans to permanently fill the gap have simply fallen through.

A proposal to turn it into flats, offices, a restaurant and retail units was approved by the council in 2017 but the building reappeared on the market in 2020 for £2.75 million with one Margate firm putting forward designs for a cultural centre.

Sittingbourne – Wilko

The most recent addition to this list is Sittingbourne’s Wilko store on the High Street next to Boots – departing the town after 15 years.

Having only brought the shutters down earlier this month, residents will be keen to see the slot filled quickly rather than risk becoming a white elephant.

Whilst Poundland and B&M are making moves to fill some of Wilko’s empty branches, there’s been no word from the discount retailers as to whether or not Sittingbourne features on this list.

Ramsgate – Wilko

Leaving the seaside town of Ramsgate on September 25, Wilko’s large presence in York Street dates back to the early 2000s – when the chain was known as Wilkinson.

Previously home to a Tesco, plans to level and rebuild the property were approved in 2003 with the signage and shopfront plans for the store given the green light soon after.

Gillingham – Wilko

Another victim of the demise of Wilko is Medway town Gillingham, with the final day of business being September 27.

Again, this store hasn’t been listed as one eyed-up by Poundland or B&M but in such a prominent town centre location there could be a wide range of options offered to fill the gap.

Dartford – Wilko

Sat in the Priory Centre, this branch closed on September 25.

Having celebrated 40 years open in 2016, bosses at the centre will be hopeful of seeing the space used or repurposed in the near future – though the portfolio of existing shops is still strong.

Dover – 5-6 Cannon Street

This long-abandoned building now sporting Tim Curry’s face has been empty for a number of years.

Having formerly been a Shoe Zone, the footwear retailer had abandoned the building by 2007 when plans to turn the shop into a restaurant were submitted and then withdrawn.

Whilst plans to turn Dover into a destination held in the same esteem as nearby neighbours are in the works, the future of the Cannon Street site has never been more uncertain.

Hythe – Aldi

Perhaps the most obvious choice to represent Hythe is the former Aldi store off the High Street.

Closing in 2019, the large lot went up for sale at £2.2 million and in March last year, property developers In5 Group revealed plans to demolish some existing buildings and refurbish others to allow the creation of 35 new homes and seven shops.

However after proposals were branded "unacceptable" by the Hythe Civic Society, the developers took the project back to the drawing board, leaving residents frustrated with no sign of work starting any time soon.

Sheerness – Bonmarche

Sheppey’s contribution to the piece comes from seaside town Sheerness, which saw clothing store Bonmarche shut up shop in April 2021.

Going under the hammer at a Clive Emson auction in March 2022, the building sold for £337,750.

And hopes of filling the gap left by the retailer continue to be high as plans to transform the ground floor into two smaller units were approved, alongside proposals to use the rest of the property as flats.

Whitstable – 27-31 High Street

Perhaps one of the few Kent town centres that could consider itself to be thriving, Whitstable has a former Morrisons mini-store to offer.

Sat a matter of metres away from the Sainsbury’s Local, the convenience shop took over the location from Cain’s Amusements in October 2014 before being taken over by Spar a couple of years later.

It has sat empty since CJ’s Discount Store packed up and departed in 2020 – and plans are currently in place to convert part of the dilapidated building into flats as well as refurbish the ground floor retail space.