Arndale Centres were the first "American style" malls to be built in the United Kingdom. In total, Arndale Property Trust built 23 Arndale Centres in the United Kingdom, and three in Australia. The first opened in Jarrow, County Durham, in 1961, as a pedestrianised shopping area.
In 1950, Arnold Hagenbach, a baker with a talent for property investment, and Sam Chippendale, an estate agent from Otley, set up a company called the Arndale Property Trust, the name being a portmanteau of "Arnold" and "Chippendale". [1]
Prior to developing a string of large shopping centres, Arndale initially started to build new stretches of high streets as canopied shopping parades in a variety of small towns across the North of England as well as suburban centres. These early developments introduced large format shop units to post-war town centres in need of regeneration that suited the growth of growing businesses such as Woolworths and Marks and Spencer. Developments were often in conjunction with local councils to deliver new infrastructure such as roads or markets.
The trust purchased Bradford's Victorian Swan Arcade in 1954, with the intention of demolishing it and developing a new shopping centre, but it took eight years before leases expired and building work could commence, so in the meantime it developed a site in Jarrow, County Durham, which became the first Arndale Centre when it opened in 1961. Its trademark Viking statue, built by the Trust, was unveiled on 17 February 1962.
Arndale's first office was in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and moved to offices in Bradford in 1964 in the then-new Arndale House
When the Wandsworth Arndale opened in 1971, it was the largest indoor shopping space in Europe. [2]
The largest Arndale Centre built was Manchester Arndale. It was redeveloped from 1996, after being badly damaged in an IRA bombing, and the centre has been owned by Prudential since December 1998. [3]
Arndale Centres attracted criticism on aesthetic grounds as they replaced old buildings – often of the Victorian period – with modern concrete constructions, often in a brutalist style.
"There are people today amassing stupendous fortunes by systematically destroying our historic centres," wrote architectural writer James Lees-Milne, in 1964. "Eventually, all the buildings of the area – good, bad and indifferent – are replaced with chain stores, supermarkets and blocks of flats devoid of all distinction, and all looking alike."
The value of the Wandsworth Arndale was maximised by the high rise tower blocks built on top of the mall, which helped it to become, according to some commentators, "one of London’s great architectural disasters". [2]
The phrase "the Arndale Centre wasn't built in a day" (in place of "Rome wasn't built in a day") was used in the film Little Voice . A sketch in an episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie about greetings cards with very specific tailored messages inside features a card with the greeting "Sorry to hear your teeth fell out in the Arndale Centre". Numerous other references to Arndale Centres exist in the show.
In an episode of The Royle Family , Nana is said to have a "spin out" outside Timpson's Shoe Shop (now closed) in the Stretford Arndale or precinct as it is known locally. British band Squeeze referenced the mall in the song "It's Not Cricket", from their 1979 album, Cool for Cats , with the lyrics: "at the Arndale Centre, she's up against the wall." [10]
On his track the N. W. R. A. on The Fall's 1980 album Grotesque (After the Gramme) , Manchester singer Mark E. Smith described the destruction of the Arndale as part of an apocalyptic 'future rising' of the North.
TV showed Sam Chippendale
Had no conception of what he'd made;
The Arndale had been razed,
Shop staff knocked off their ladders,
Security guards hung from moving escalators.— The Fall, The N. W. R. A., on Grotesque (After the Gramme)
In the first Christmas special episode of The Worst Week of My Life , "The Worst Christmas of my Life", Howard refers to visiting Santa's Grotto at the Arndale Centre. In series four, episode four "It's Only Rock and Roll" of Only Fools And Horses , an Arndale Centre is mentioned, but it is not specific as to whether it is the Wandsworth or Dartford centre that is being referred to.
Characters in the television series Coronation Street occasionally reference going shopping in the Manchester Arndale Centre, the television series being set in Greater Manchester.
In the 2015 advert for Warburtons giant crumpets, the Muppets sing "it's time to hit the Arndale / to get some bigger plates". [11]
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Southside Wandsworth is a shopping centre in the district of Wandsworth in London, England. When it was built it was the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe and is currently the fifth largest indoor shopping centre in London after Westfield Stratford City, Westfield London, the Whitgift Centre and Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
Middleton Grange is a shopping centre in Hartlepool, England. It was built in 1969 and it was opened by Princess Anne on 27 May 1970. The site of the shopping centre was originally terraced streets that were demolished in the late 1960s.
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In the United Kingdom, an out-of-town shopping centre is an enclosed shopping centre located outside of a town centre. The impact of out-of-town shopping centres in the United Kingdom is studied in the context of urban planning, town centre redevelopment, the retail industry and even public health and gender divides. Due to its significance for these issues, it has been included in the school exam curriculum in geography. There are only about sixteen out-of-town enclosed shopping centres in the United Kingdom. Under current policy, no more will be built. All other British shopping centres are in town and city centres.
The Mall Luton is in the centre of Luton, in Bedfordshire, England. It was formerly an Arndale Centre, until it was purchased by Capital & Regional in January 2006. It was temporarily called The Mall Arndale, but is now referred to as The Mall Luton, although local people still refer to it as "The Arndale". It is to be renamed Luton Point.
The Swan Arcade was a four-storey building located between Market Street and Broadway, Bradford, England and stood opposite the Wool Exchange. The Bradford Beck ran beneath.
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Corporation Street is a major thoroughfare in Manchester city centre, England. It runs from Dantzic Street to the junction of Cross Street and Market Street. Major buildings located on or adjacent to the street include the Arndale Centre, Exchange Square, The Printworks, Urbis and New Century House next to the CIS Tower.
The Oastler Shopping Centre, formerly known as the John Street Market and commonly known as just the "Oastler Centre" to locals, is a market located on Westgate in the city centre of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.