North End is a pedestrianised road in Central Croydon, which includes entrances to the town's two main shopping centres, Centrale and the Whitgift Centre. The road has high street chains including Next, Zara, French Connection, Pret a Manger and a large branch of department store House of Fraser. A large Debenhams store on the west side of the road did not reopen after the 2020 Coronavirus lockdown as the company entered administration. [1] North End was closed off to all forms of motor traffic in 1989, to entice shoppers to choose Croydon over its main south-east London rival Bromley.
On 26 November 2013, the Croydon Council approved a redevelopment of the town centre by The Croydon Partnership, [2] a joint venture by The Westfield Corporation and Hammerson [3] which would see the Whitgift Centre replaced with a Westfield shopping centre. London Mayor Boris Johnson approved the plan the following day. [4] The Croydon Advertiser listed the approval as an "historic night for Croydon". [5]
North End was the home of Allders department store, opened in 1862, which later became the flagship store of a chain extending across England and Wales. The company went into administration in 2005, and the Croydon store, the last to survive, closed in 2012. At the time of its closure it was the third-largest department store in Britain. [6]
North End has transport links both to the borough and to the surrounding areas in and out of London.
West Croydon railway station is located at the northern end of North End and is served by Southern and London Overground services. The East London Line was extended to West Croydon as its new terminus; now forming part of the London Overground project that connects Croydon with Crystal Palace and New Cross to Highbury & Islington across the River Thames and Clapham Junction. From these places connections are made to places like Watford, Euston, Barking, Stratford and Richmond. There is also a large bus station with many bus routes terminating there. [7]
East Croydon railway station is the second busiest railway station in Greater London outside of Travelcard Zone 1. It is located about 5 minutes east of the shopping area. There are services to London Victoria and London Bridge in Central London, Horsham, Gatwick Airport, Redhill, Caterham, Brighton and Tunbridge Wells. The rail services are provided by Southern and Thameslink. [8]
Tramlink also provides frequent services from the four nearby stops. Croydon Central railway station was a former station at what is now the Croydon Clocktower. It was built so that shoppers could get closer to the main district but the idea failed and a new Town Hall was built in 1895 on the site of the platforms, with the remainder of the station site being incorporated into what became a small public park, now called the Queen's Gardens, where the retaining wall of the railway is visible as the northern boundary of the Gardens along Katherine Street.
Car parks around the centre include Centrale and Whitgift's own multi-storey car parks.
The London Borough of Croydon is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of 87 km2 (33.6 sq mi). It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; while other urban centres include Coulsdon, Purley, South Norwood, Norbury, New Addington and Thornton Heath. Croydon is mentioned in Domesday Book, and from a small market town has expanded into one of the most populous areas on the fringe of London. The borough is now one of London's leading business, financial and cultural centres, and its influence in entertainment and the arts contribute to its status as a major metropolitan centre. Its population is 386,710, making it the second largest London borough and fifteenth largest English district.
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, currently classified as a deprived area, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 4.9 miles (7.9 km) west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Surrey Quays is a station on the East London Line branch of the London Overground. It is located in Rotherhithe, part of London Borough of Southwark. It is in Zone 2 and the next station to the north is Canada Water, and to the south it splits into branches to Clapham Junction, New Cross and Crystal Palace/West Croydon. Closed in late 2007, the station was refurbished and re-opened as part of the London Overground network on 27 April 2010.
Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which now owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; and Westfield Corporation, which continued to own and operate the American and European center portfolio.
Harrow is a large town in Greater London, England and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about 10.5 miles (16.9 km) north-west of Charing Cross and 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a population of 149,246 as of the 2011 census, whereas the wider borough had a population of 250,149.
Croydon is a large town in south London, England. It is 9.4 miles (15.1 km) south of Charing Cross. The principal settlement in the London Borough of Croydon, it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London outside Central London, with an extensive shopping district and night-time economy. The entire town had a population of 192,064 as of 2011, whilst the wider borough had a population of 384,837.
The Whitgift Centre is a large shopping centre in the town centre of Croydon, opening in stages between 1968 and 1970. The centre comprises 1,302,444 sq ft (121,001 m2) of retail space, and was the largest covered shopping development in Greater London until the opening of Westfield London at White City in 2008. The Whitgift Centre has a monthly footfall of 2.08 million. The complex includes an office development.
West Croydon is a combined railway, bus station and tram stop in Croydon, south London. It is served by National Rail, London Overground, Tramlink and London Buses services and is in Travelcard Zone 5.
Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom.
Norwood Junction railway station is a National Rail station in South Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon, south London and is in Travelcard Zone 4. It is 8 miles 55 chains (13.98 km) down the line from London Bridge.
Westfield Stratford City is a shopping centre in Stratford, east London, which opened on 13 September 2011. With a total retail floor area of 1,910,000 square feet (177,000 m2), it is one of the largest urban shopping centres in Europe, and the 4th-largest shopping centre in the UK by retail space, behind Westfield London, the MetroCentre, and the Trafford Centre.
Brent Cross Shopping Centre is a large shopping centre in Hendon, north London, owned by Hammerson and Standard Life Aberdeen. Located by the Brent Cross interchange, it opened in 1976 as the UK's first out-of-town shopping centre. Brent Cross attracted 15-16 million shoppers a year as of 2011 and has one of the largest incomes per unit area of retail space in the country.
Centrale is a shopping centre in Croydon, South London, one of the largest covered retail developments in London. It is owned and managed by Hammerson and was opened in 2004. Plans were announced in January 2013 to redevelop Centrale and combine it with the Whitgift Centre.
Park Place was a proposed shopping centre which had been expected to open in Croydon, London by 2011. The date was continuously pushed back due to a number of problems between different developers, financial backers and the local council. It was cancelled in 2009, as other schemes began progress, such as the extension to Centrale and the possible takeover of the Whitgift Centre by Westfield Group. Park Place was part of the Croydon Vision 2020 re-generation scheme.
Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the West Cross Route (A3220), the Westway (A40) and Wood Lane (A219). It opened on 30 October 2008 during the financial crisis and became the largest covered shopping development in the capital; originally a retail floor area of 1,600,000 sq ft (150,000 m2), further investment and expansion led to it becoming the largest shopping centre in Europe by March 2018, an area of 2,600,000 sq ft (240,000 m2).
St George's Walk is a partially covered shopping parade in the centre of Croydon, London that houses many independent stores. It was completed in 1964 by Ronald Ward and Partners, the designers of St George's House, at one end of the walk, and Millbank Tower in Westminster.
Croydon, located in Greater London, England, has a diverse economy with the service and retail sectors now dominating over the town's historical market status. It is today served well by its extensive rail network centering on East and West Croydon stations, from where London Overground, First Capital Connect and Southern operate to most parts of Central and Greater London, as well as Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and the East of England. With the A23, M23 and M25 orbital motorway intersecting Croydon to the South East, it is the principal gateway of the motorway network from the East Sussex area of the South Coast. London Gatwick Airport is located to the direct south of the town and has scheduled flights to destinations within Europe, North America and Asia, although has tough competition from the even bigger London Heathrow Airport to the west but has managed to stay the UK's second busiest airport. The town has since 2000 had a tram network which has been highly successful, carrying more than 24 million passengers a year. The network has three lines, the routes being; New Addington to West Croydon, Wimbledon to Beckenham and Wimbledon to Elmers End, with some off-peak variations. Croydon is one of only five London boroughs not to have any form of London Underground services.
Shepherd's Bush station is a railway station located in the district of Shepherd's Bush in Greater London, England, UK. It opened on 29 September 2008 on the West London line and Route and is served by London Overground and Southern rail services. It lies within Travelcard Zone 2.
Sutton High Street is a high street running north–south through the town of Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton.
Kennards was a small department store chain that was started in 1853, founded on the principle of selling reliable goods at low profit margins. Its main Croydon branch was notable for the full-length windows which ran the length of the store. The shop was bought out by Debenhams in 1928 but not rebranded until 1973. The site was later obtained for development for the new Drummond Centre in the 1980s and the original store was demolished. The new store was sited on some of the original footprint and anchored the Drummond Centre, which was later expanded and renamed Centrale. This store continued to anchor the centre until Debenhams announced its closure in 2020.
Croydon £1bn shopping centre plan approved
Media related to North End, Croydon at Wikimedia Commons