The owners of the O2 in Greenwich plan to open a designer outlet centre to rival Bicester Village in Oxfordshire.
They have started talks with a property firm about developing a mall of more than 100 discount luxury shops in unused space within the arena.
American-owned AEG Europe wants to attract names including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana. It is hoped the development will draw more visitors to the concert venue during the daytime.
Bicester Village, a favourite destination of the Duchess of Cambridge, has become the world’s most successful discount designer shopping centre, attracting tens of thousands of wealthy foreign tourists.
Retailers who sign leases there are locked into geographical exclusivity deals which stop them opening another discount outlet within a certain distance, but Greenwich falls outside this boundary.
AEG has secured planning permission from Greenwich council for about 230,000 sq ft of retail space on the ground floor of the O2 and on an upper level originally built for a casino.
It has signed a six-month exclusivity deal with property firm Land Securities to negotiate a joint venture.
Alistair Wood, senior vice president of real estate and development for AEG, said: “We are strongly of the view that a well-executed and positioned designer outlet village could drive the huge success enjoyed to date at the O2.
“We welcome Land Securities as our potential partner, who we believe to be an ideal match in terms of track record and skill set.”
Fleetwood Mac, One Direction and Beyoncé helped the O2 to a record-breaking year in 2013, with more than nine million visitors attending 185 concerts and events at the arena.
One Direction fans broke a rather different record, for the number of portions of chips sold in one night – 1,359.
