The John Lewis store in Purley Way could soon be a thing of the past.

That is because a real estate company want to demolish the store and build a brand new shops in its place.

At Croydon Council's planning committee meeting on Thursday (April 19), Reef Estates will present the two phase plan.

"Phase one would include the erection of three single storey buildings (with mezzanine) to accommodate two separate retail stores and a small café," a pre-application report prepared for the meeting said.

"Phase two proposes to demolish the existing John Lewis store and to provide two smaller retail stores, one of which would be a mixed-use building with ground floor retail and residential accommodation above.

"In addition, phase two includes the development of two blocks of flats near the southern boundary of the site and a building accommodating employment space (near the north western end of the site)."

It won't just be shops built on the site though.

After putting the initial plans to the committee in July last year, the company was met with some concerns. This resulted in the applicant making a few changes to its plans.

One such concern was "the lack of any residential or employment space being proposed given the emerging site allocation policy and the acute need for housing."

This comment resulted in the company adding plans to build two 4-6 storey buildings that would bring 38 homes to the site, as well as an additional 18 homes being built on top of part of a shopping centre.

While no decision will be made on the plans as they are still in the pre-application stage, it will go a long way in determining whether or not any application is submitted at all.