New chapter for Waterstones Guildford as moves into former home

Waterstones is set to relocate to its Guildford bookstore, moving into its old home on the Surrey town’s high street.

The bookseller will be upsizing to a three-storey, 15,000 sq ft property at 71 High Street, with the new store expected to open in the New Year. It will also include a café.

Waterstones will join nearby retailers on Guildford High Street includng M&S, Boots, Rituals, Gant, Vision Express, Superdrug, Cos, and Whistles.

The retailer had vacated the store in 2019 in favour of a smaller unit across the street, formerly occupied by Monsoon and Accessorize. Waterstones’ current unit at 50-54 High Street will now be available on a new lease. According to Surrey Live, the retailer was unable to reach an agreement with its current landlord.

This comes after Waterstones secured a £125m funding package from Barclays and HSBC to support its growth.

Cited Property acted for Waterstones, whilst GCW represented the landlord CBRE IM.