Croydon Shopping Centre

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Centrale is an exciting shopping centre in Croydon, South London, among the largest enclosed retail centres in London. It’s been opened in 2021 and is owned by Hammerson plc. The original plan was announced in January 2021 to revamp Centrale and merge it with the much bigger Whitgift centre. However, it looks like that plan will not materialise and the company has now confirmed that it will close down.

A few years ago, it was a real issue when the Croydon shopping centre closed its doors. Some of the owners had not paid their annual rent for two years and when the lease expired they left without taking their equipment. There are a lot of stories about how the place is run and what the management has achieved over the last few years, but it looks like it’s going to be all part of Croydon history. The owners had been notified months ago that they would be losing their parking space and it’s just been standard practice at that point for them to notify tenants in advance. I can’t say I’m very surprised as it is exactly business practice to notify every new tenant of any changes such as this.

There were mixed feelings expressed on the Croydon shopping centre website and on forums online about the closure. One owner said that it was ‘disheartening’ and there was ‘no chance they’ll bring in more customers’ and another said that she’d given up trying to get into her own car park as it was so far away. According to the Times Online, Richard Cairns is now in charge of the regeneration project. He’s also taken over the Whitgift Shopping Centre, which unfortunately closed last year.

Shopping in Croydon

It looks as if Richard Cairns will have to take a lot of the responsibility back from the developers of the Croydon shopping centre and possibly take some of the department store stores elsewhere onto his plate. There is word that he may consult other Londoners including Sir Nick Clegg and London Mayor Ken Livingstone about his plans. Richard Cairns is also in charge of reviving the London Park Avenue plan, which had the area split into three separate zones. This is something he’s got a lot of experience with, as he did it with Park Avenue in London, which is one of London’s most successful department store parks. This is something he could do with Park Avenue’s former car park levels.

As well as getting the car park and department store outlets back to the site of the shopping centre, it is hoped that the owners of the site will consider turning it into a mixed retail space. This would see the car park being closed for a few hours each day and then converted into a variety of different shops. This is actually something that has been tried before but never fully realised and it’s hoped that it can boost the car park’s success, as it did with its previous tenant, the former Carphone Warehouse on the nearby Stratford upon-Avon High Street. This was seen as a great success by the owner of the warehouse, which sold the car parking to a chain of shopping centres, which sold all of its contents to these various chains.

The mixed retail experience could prove to be much more successful, especially with the mixed shops, as it could bring in more foot traffic and shoppers to the Croydon shopping centre. With so many people visiting this area on a daily basis, the added footfall is always a plus for any shopping centre. Richard Cairns will need to look at how the car parking is now handled, as he wants to make changes to it. There is also word that he may look into improving the lighting and signage of the Croydon shopping centre. All of these factors are important to Richard Cairns and his shopping centre business, as he wants to make sure that he is getting the most for his money.

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