Oxford Street No. 400. Most of the southern side west of Davies Street was completely rebuilt between 1865 and 1890, allowing a more uniform freehold ownership. By the 1930s, the street was almost entirely retail, a position that remains today. However, unlike nearby streets such as Bond Street and Park Lane, there remained a seedy element including street traders and prostitutes. Aside from a number of fixed places, there are no provisions for selling licensed goods on Oxford Street. Oxford Street suffered considerable bombing during the Second World War. During the night and early hours of 17 to 18 September 1940, 268
Powis Street Properties Ltd. in 1964. Many of the leases given out in 1898 had been for sixty years and so another round of redevelopment took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Cuffs was in 1956 the first to rebuild in a modernist style. Others followed and more and more ornate Victorian shops were replaced by unadorned modern blocks with cantilevered canopies and glass curtain walls. Some smaller shops were not able to pay the higher rents and were replaced by chain stores. In 1957, Christmas lights were introduced, just three years after Regent Street, two years before Oxford Street.