Wikipedia entry "Trafford_Centre"
Original document at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafford_Centre

{{infobox shopping mall | | shopping_mall_name = Trafford Centre | image =

| caption = | location = Trafford , Greater Manchester , England | opening_date = September 1998 | developer = Peel Group | manager = Mike Butterworth, Managing Director | owner= Peel Group | number_of_stores = 280 | number_of_anchors = 6 | floor_area = 1,278,387 sq ft (118,766 m²) | parking = 10,000 | floors = 3 | website = http://www.traffordcentre.co.uk }} The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre located in Trafford in Greater Manchester , England .

Structure

It has 118,766 square metres (1.2m square feet) of retail space and attracts 29 million visits annually. It is made up of 4 main areas: Peel Avenue, Regent Crescent, The Dome and The Orient. The centre is owned by the Peel Group . The centre was designed so that visitors enter on both of the two main shopping floors in equal numbers [ * ] . This helps avoid the problem suffered by other centres, such as the MetroCentre , where visitors do not go to upper floors meaning that many big retailers avoid upper floor units.

Peel Avenue

Peel Avenue is home to the high street stores such as W H Smith , H&M , Boots , Apple Store it is also home to two department store the new John Lewis which opened in 2005 at the end of Peel Avenue and the newly refubished four floor Marks & Spencers . Previously the space now occupied by John Lewis was a market area known as the Festival Village. The Festival Village closed down after performing dissapointingly {{fact}}.

The Dome

The Dome is in the middle of the center and features the centres biggest dome and is also home to the first Selfridges outside of London it is also home to other high end retailers like Whittards and also jewelers Beaverbrooks and Goldsmiths.

Regents Crescent

Regents Crescent is the area where most of the high end designer stores are situated like Karen Millen, Jane Norman, Gap and Mexx , it is home to two bookshops aswell Waterstones and Borders and it is also home to two department stores BHS and Debenhams which is at the end of Regents Crescent.

The Orient and The Great Hall

Other non-retail facilities are all located in a central spur called The Orient, which includes a 20 screen Odeon multiplex cinema, Laser Quest Laser Tag arena, a large Namco Centre with Dodgems , Bowling and Arcade games . There are also dozens of restaurants and bars including The Exchange Bar & Grill, Starbucks , Est Est Est, Ma Potters, Nando's and Cathay Dim Sum. Also has popular fast food outlets - McDonalds , KFC , Subway and Pizza Hut . In October 2006 The Orient will be joined with the a new development called The Great Hall more about that below.

Trafford Centre

New Developments

In October 2006, a new area in front of the Orient known as "The Great Hall" will open. This new glazed structure, which was previously open space in front of the Centre, will house five new restaurants and cafes. The decision to extend the current dining facilities was due to the growth in demand amongst visitors wishing to dine during their stay, or indeed visit The Trafford Centre during the evening specifically for food and drink. The space will house an elegant sweeping staircase, hundreds of metres of marble balustrade that have been shipped in from China, and the world's largest chandelier.

In addition to this, the Orient is being expanded to accommodate the growing demand and four more restaurants are due to open by October 2006.

The new restaurants/ cafes opening within The Orient or The Great Hall are:-

     Sam & Maxie's (Now Open)
     Pizza Express
     Costa Coffee
     Zinc Bar, Zinc Grill
     Cafe Rouge
     Giraffe
     Sri Thai
     Carluccio's (Opens in 2007)

The Trafford Centre announced in October 2005, that another proposed expansion had been approved. The new 200,000-sq ft extension, which costs £70m and is known as the 'Barton Square' development, will be linked by an extensive glazed bridge. The new scheme will target the high-quality homewares market with a variety of units offering furniture, kitchens, bathrooms, home furnishings and other goods that are currently not available at the Trafford Centre. A further 630 free parking spaces will also be provided. Construction has now begun on this development and is expected to open in late 2007.

Trivia

The Trafford Centre are also the main sponsors of Salford City Reds rugby league club.

A popular event is the Christmas lights switch on in October/November with each year being more impressive than the last. This attraction usually features celebrities particularly from football and television .

The building's public lighting is under state of the art computer control, adapts with the changing environment and can be controlled from one central location.{{fact}}

The planning process of the Trafford Centre was one of the longest and most expensive in British history. Ultimately the matter was decided by the House of Lords .House of Lords (1995) “Opinions of the Lords of Appeal for Judgment in the cause Bolton Metropolitan District Council and others (respondents) versus Secretary of State for the Environment and others (appellants)” 24 May, written by Lord Lloyd of Berwick. Trafford Centre (1997) “From de Trafford to the House of Lords” Trafford Centre Insight, Brochure.

Shortly after its opening, the Trafford Centre provided the setting for "Shopping City", a BBC 2 daytime programme hosted by Lowry Turner.{{fact}}

External links

[ Official site ]

References

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