Taking up a cumulative floor space area of 28,000 square feet, the foremost shopping destination in all of Yorkshire looks set to offer more appeal to the 23.5 million shoppers that grace its premises every year.
Promoted by British Land, the mall now boasts of 1.4 million square feet of high-end retail and leisure glee. Meadowhall has made giant strides since it first opened its doors to customers in 1990. Between then and now, the crescent-shaped multi-storey mall has grown to play host to 310 shops.
The shopping center rises from the ruins of a former steelworks site located at junction 34 of the M1, and is now the favorite retail spot for an inspiring number of renowned local, national, and international brands.
Complementing the number of retail outlets is an expansive array of over four dozen cafes and restaurants. Topping off the amazing leisure attractions is the mall’s exciting 11-screen cinema. Accessibility to the shopping center is as easy as it gets thanks to the mall maintaining its own public transport interchange for Supertram, train, and local & regional bus services running all day. Visitors with cars can benefit from the humongous 12,000-car parking space without charge.
Earlier in the year, Meadowhall celebrated its Silver Jubilee; and marked it off in style with a launch to carry out upscale refurbishment to the tune of 50 million pounds. Work started in late September. This is in addition to the revamp of Park Lane area of the mall last year at an estimated cost of 3 million pounds.
The 11 new outlets were all taken up by premium brands. The largest of the eleven outlets is a 3,595-square-foot retail space snagged up by Diesel. The list grows with the new entrance of Jack Wills, Joules, Michael Kors, and Kiko Milano.
Lush’s outlet in Meadowhall already performs better than all but one of the brand’s stores in the UK. Build-a-Bear will take up a 2,680 exquisite retail space to launch its first new style shop fit in the UK. The move of L’Occitane from the High Street to Park Lane is also an endearing change.
Goldsmiths will be extending its reach further in Meadowhall, précising into Park Lane, with a new Goldsmiths Boutique retail outlet. Even better, Rolex will launch a concession within the new Goldsmiths store.
The dining experience at Meadowhall will also get a boost with two of new lettings being restaurant brands—Five Guys with a retail space measured at 3,160 square feet and Tapas Revolution opening its doors to a 2,000-square-feet storefront.
The sparkling growth of business for British Lands, the managers of Meadowhall has been one of intrigue. The mall boasts of the highest retail conversion rate, 97%, of the six elite super-regionals in the UK. That figure is hard to beat and explains why more money is spent on upscaling the center while newer brands bicker for spaces in what is unarguably one of UK’s most sought-after shopping destinations.
Earlier in the year, premium brands—Cadenza, White Company, Jigsaw, and White Stuff joined the number at Meadowhall. By all indications, more negotiations, letting, renovation, and expansion will continue at Meadowhall in the years to come.
