For many families over the years Boswells toy department was the place to go to give their children a treat for Christmas.

But the historic department store in Cornmarket announced it was to close last year and did not reopen this year after the first coronavirus lockdown.

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Youngsters would beg their parents to take them to the toy department so they could look at the latest toys and watch the Hornby train sets go around the tracks.

Oxford Mail:

A visit to Boswells in 1961

The Oxford branch of Debenhams in Magdalen Street is also expected to close after the chain collapsed and it might only trade up until Christmas unless a buyer for the business comes forward in a rescue deal.

Plans have been announced to turn the Boswells building on the corner of Cornmarket and Broad Street into a hotel.

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Proposals for a four-star boutique hotel have been revealed as part of a partnership between developer Reef Group and Oxford City Council.

Oxford Mail:

Sam Pugh with Boswells train sets

The London-based property investment company said it was submitting a planning application for The Store Hotel to the council.

The company claimed that despite being a tourism hotspot, and the site of one of the world’s leading universities, Oxford has a shortage of high-quality hotels with restaurants in the city centre.

Reef said The Store Hotel would provide much-needed new facilities in the city centre to help attract tourists and other visitors in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Oxford Mail:

Toy buyer Rosie Marshall

The plans include a restaurant, a bar and a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of the city’s iconic skyline, all open to the public, and some office space.

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Boswells directors last year hired London-based retail property consultants GCW to advise on the sale of the city centre building.

Oxford Mail:

Store manager Frank Smith in the toy department in 2011

Reef Group said it was conscious of the store’s heritage and ‘great care’ would be taken to ensure that the building’s frontage on Broad Street and Cornmarket Street will be preserved and enhanced.