Merrion Centre, Leeds

Merrion Centre

The southern entrance of the Merrion Centre, as of 5 May 2007
Location Leeds city centre, Leeds, England
Opening date 1964, 2008 (Refurbished from a fire)
Closing date June 2007 (Old centre closed from a fire)
Owner Town Centre Securities (formerly Leeds City Council)
No. of stores and services 90[1]
Total retail floor area 800,000 ft² including none retail areas.[2]
No. of floors 2 (main retail area only) The centre has 20 floors of office space.
The Interior of the Merrion Centre
The Wade Lane side of the Merrion Centre, showing the Merrion Superstore
The Georgian Arcade in the Merrion Centre has at times almost been a dead mall.
Woolworths during its final sale following the groups administration, this meant the loss of a major tenant for the centre.

The Merrion Centre in Leeds, England, is a shopping centre opened in 1964. From construction to the present day the centre has been owned and managed by Town Centre Securities. Originally open air, the centre had since had a roof installed during the 1970s onwards. It is an early example of a mixed-use development including offices, car parking, retail (including a Morrisons supermarket) and entertainment including a bowling alley, a nightclub and several public houses. Currently most retail in the centre is aimed more towards the budget end of the market which means the centre is especially popular with working-class people and students. The Merrion Market area featured a range of independent stalls, shops and cafés ranging from mainstream but downmarket to idiosyncratic, but it has been closed to make room for The New Front, an area backing onto the arena which contains restaurants, cafès and leisure facilities.

The centre had originally included an Odeon Cinema when it opened, however this closed in 1977 following a screening of Gone with the Wind. It remains empty and unused to this day only opening occasionally for events such as Heritage Open Days. The cinema inside is notable in the fact that other than the removal of the seating, it is unchanged since closing with original operating manuals and film posters in place and is admired by fans of 1960s and 1970s culture. The ground floor entrance is opposite the entrance to Morrisons and has been blocked up and replaced with cash machines.

One of the nightclubs within The Merrion Centre was the now-legendary 'Bar Phono' originally known as Le Phonographique, widely reputed to be the birthplace of the Gothic subculture. A pillar was located in the middle of the dancefloor which is what caused the unique goth two steps forward two steps back dance.

The former Barclays Bank on the front of the Merrion Centre has since been converted into 'Oceana', which has become a popular Leeds nightclub.

As of Summer 2016, The Merrion Centre is undergoing major refurbishment. The western side of the centre is being extended to accommodate new refurbished council offices, as well as new restaurants and retail units. New tenants have moved in such as a new Sainsbury's Local, and the centre's Morrisons supermarket has been rebranded to fit the company's new corporate image, with major extension and refurbishment inside.

The centre features one of two examples of Rowland Emett's 'thing', "The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basketweave Mark Two Gentleman’s Flying Machine", and other several other Centre-owned Emett kinetic sculptures are periodically displayed in the main thoroughfare. There are plaques in the floor at each entrance stating "Private property, no public right of way" to prevent the walkthoughs becoming public footpaths.

Woolworths' relocation to the Merrion Centre, from Briggate (now the House of Fraser) in the early 1990s provided the centre with another major retailer and increased footfall. The Morrisons in the centre is the main supermarket in the city centre and has seen a surge in custom since the building of many city centre flats in the property boom of the 2000s. However most of these are towards the southern end of the city centre, and for them the Morrisons in The Penny Hill Centre, Hunslet is nearer and also offers free parking.

Current Outlets

Shops Food & Drink Leisure Health
three Big Bite Hair @ Pro-Style Leeds Sexual Health
Acupuncture & Herbs Bulgogi Grill Inches Simplyhealth
Aesthetique Dental Care Caffé Nero JR's Barbershop
Bags4U Charlotte's Just Men Barbers
Bonmarché Chopstix MFA Bowl
Boots Costa (x2) Pryzm
Brighthouse Crown Carveries PureGym
British Heart Foundation Dunkin' Donuts Queen Nails
Chilli Shop Fuji Hero Supercuts
Coral Greggs (x2) The Key Club
Crawshaws KFC The Merchant
Dale Photographic Morrisons Coffee Shop
Day Dreamer's Flowers My Thai
Eurochange Pastry House
Everyday Loans Pita Pit
Hair Xpress Smoke Barbecue
Holland & Barrett The Bierhaus
Home Bargains The Shake Bar
Morrisons
Natural Born Cobblers
O2
Peacocks
Poundworld
Ryman
Sainsbury's
Select
Shoe Zone
Sing Kee
Superdrug
The Spinner Wool Shop
The Works
VIP Electronic Cigarette
The Watch Hospital
Wilko
The Yorkshire Linen Co.

Criticisms of the centre's design

Praise

The future of the Centre

Much of The Merrion Centre remains almost unchanged since its construction. With many other cities renovating their equivalents of The Merrion Centre (the reconstruction of the Bullring, Birmingham, the Arndale Centre in Manchester being partially rebuilt and Eldon Square in Newcastle Upon Tyne being renovated), Leeds city centre's largest shopping centre was beginning to look dated.

Renovation

In June 2007 phase one of the renovation began, concentrating on the western side of the centre.[2] In 2013 the Merrion Superstore market hall closed and opened up as Pure Gym in 2014.

The western side of the centre has been incorporated into the Arena Quarter[3] as part of the city-wide development in Leeds of the Arena and surrounding area and has gained numerous leisure and restaurant tenants since including Smoke Barbecue and Bulgogi Grill.

Trivia

Shops

Since the pedestrianisation of Briggate and the opening of new shopping centres such as Victoria Quarter, Trinity Leeds and The Light, the Merrion Centre has seen a transition from high-end retail chains to more utilitarian and functional chains. The main anchor tenant is Morrisons. Other retailers include Wilkinson, Superdrug, The Works and Home Bargains. The centre is also home to an official Leeds United Football Club shop.

Car Park

The Merrion Centre Car Park as it was when it was refurbished in 2015

The Merrion Centre car park was completely refurbished, completing in February 2015, as the original structure had been in place since 1964 and the structure was beginning to become brittle. The refurbishment[4] was at the time the largest carbon fibre structural strengthening project in Europe and brought the interior and equipment of the car park up to date with the implementation of automatic numberplate recognition systems to let drivers exit the car park without needing to present a ticket.

The refurbished car park has space for 956 cars and features dedicated disabled spaces.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Merrion Centre, Leeds.

Coordinates: 53°48′07″N 1°32′40″W / 53.80194°N 1.54444°W / 53.80194; -1.54444

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.