The Worst Shopping Centre..

[Anna B 1,414]

Sheffield city centre needs a decent market and has done for years. It has given meadowhall a clear run by not offering one. Now it may be too little too late.

[abbeyedges 83]

Went to Trinity in Leeds over the weekend. What a disappointment. All the hype shown by Look North et al.

 

Lots of boarded up spaces. Bright central area with its glass roof but corridors coming off this central area are low roofed with fluroscent lighting - very 1960's / 70's Arndale Centre.

 

Meadowhall was built 23 years ago and is still pristine. Probably because they built to a high-spec and they have followed a strict, rigid maintenance programme. The finish on Trinity is poor. Facias on front of shops coming away, the flooring hasn't been thoroughly cleaned and it appears it hasn't been thoroughly 'snagged'. Already looks scruffy. Can't imagine what it will look like in 23 years time!

 

There was an escalator that continually 'squeaked' - not condusive to relaxing and wanting to spend money.

 

Next and Urban Outfitters are represented but have closed their stores just outside the centre.

 

Overall a cheap building that is like the 'Emperors new clothes'.

[V.Rossi 10]

I agree Sheffield is poor and I reguarly travel to Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds if I feel the need to be dragged around a city centre.

 

However, there are a lot worse, such as: (In no particular order)

 

Burnley

Exeter

Rotherham

Wolverhampton

Walsall

Dudley

Torquay

Blackpool

Cleethorpes

Grimsby

Skegness

London

York

Liverpool

...

Bored now, you get the drift...

[mikebatty 10]

I agree Sheffield is poor and I reguarly travel to Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds if I feel the need to be dragged around a city centre.

 

However, there are a lot worse, such as: (In no particular order)

 

Burnley

Exeter

Rotherham

Wolverhampton

Walsall

Dudley

Torquay

Blackpool

Cleethorpes

Grimsby

Skegness

London

York

Liverpool

...

Bored now, you get the drift...

 

As I have pointed out on previous threads , Sheffield is second to none .

Oh ! There are those who will carp at anything and everything . Even see that what everyone else has is still better than theirs .

Sheffield ! You are still way in front of those that you have mentioned - Leeds , Manchester - yes, and London .

Despite all the trials and tribulations over the past 20 - 30 years , you have retained your dignity , humour, get-up-and go guts and , more importantly , your sense of community spirit . Others have talked about it - You have practiced it .

Just look at the contributions on the Sheffield Forum threads ad see how people pull together and support each other .I have yet tosee that anywhere else .

[fairyworld14 10]

Im sorry but people need to look at Bradford before slagging off Sheffield .We have naff all shops here which is why I do my shopping when I come back to Sheffield . Also love Barnsley centre & Chesterfield

[mikebatty 10]

Im sorry but people need to look at Bradford before slagging off Sheffield .We have naff all shops here which is why I do my shopping when I come back to Sheffield . Also love Barnsley centre & Chesterfield

 

People always see the grass as being greener on the other side . The vast majority outside Sheffield see nothing wrong with Sheffield . False Modesty I suspect.

[Plain Talker 11]

Went to Trinity in Leeds over the weekend. What a disappointment. All the hype shown by Look North et al.

 

Lots of boarded up spaces. Bright central area with its glass roof but corridors coming off this central area are low roofed with fluroscent lighting - very 1960's / 70's Arndale Centre.

 

Meadowhall was built 23 years ago and is still pristine. Probably because they built to a high-spec and they have followed a strict, rigid maintenance programme. The finish on Trinity is poor. Facias on front of shops coming away, the flooring hasn't been thoroughly cleaned and it appears it hasn't been thoroughly 'snagged'. Already looks scruffy. Can't imagine what it will look like in 23 years time!

 

There was an escalator that continually 'squeaked' - not condusive to relaxing and wanting to spend money.

 

Next and Urban Outfitters are represented but have closed their stores just outside the centre.

 

Overall a cheap building that is like the 'Emperors new clothes'.

 

They have made an interesting steel (?) horse- statue that stands in the atrium.

 

That's about all it's got going for it. (And I think I like the Outo Kumpo bull better, if I'm honest!!)

[alchresearch 214]

Have you noticed that Sheffield isn't a capital city?

 

It is, its capital of the People's Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire!

[Victoria Stn 10]

A number of us shop in Chesterfield, you can still park on a number of the side roads near the old Saltergate Chesterfield FC ground for free.

[Wezzle 10]

To be honest, as someone from Leeds, in terms of shops and what you can buy I wouldn't say Leeds city centre is much better than Sheffield. It is probably a bit better for high end shopping like Harvey Nicks where nobody normal shops, but apart from that Leeds isn't any better than Sheffield. In fact, in some ways Sheffield is slightly better. There are more independent clothes shops e.g. along Division street, there is John Lewis which is very good, the Sheffield Debenhams is also bigger and better stocked. Where Leeds is better is that the council has made a huge effort over the years to tart up the shopping area with nice paving and so on and of course Leeds has some nicer buildings as it wasn't bombed flat in the war. Trinity Leeds is a bit of a let down. Half of the shops have closed their existing shops in the city centre and moved there, it has a cold and airy atmosphere and I don't like it.

[LSMBuilders 10]

Sheffield City Centre is great!

It is the 3rd largest city with a city centre John Lewis store.

It has a long established independent department store which are hard to find in other cities. Do Leeds or Manchester even have one any more?

Sheffield City Centre does has all the shops that one could actually need and it is greatly complimented by Meadowhall.

Sheffield CC to Meadowhall costs less than Manchester CC to Trafford Centre.

Also - Sheffield has a catchment population of, at most, 1.5 million. It has an urban area as big as Nottingham's. We still have more shops than Nottingham does, it's just that half of our shops aren't in the city centre.

Sheffield is a good place for shopping, when put into consideration the actual shops it has.

 

well said. I dont go to city centre too often, but ive seen far worse.

[Dragonfall 10]

Clearly, there are some people viewing Sheffield city centre, through rose-tinted spectacles - it's fallen way behind most other UK cities, in retail terms (and I say that as a life-long Sheffielder). And 'retail' is the operative word here - the theatres, Peace Gardens, Winter Gardens, Millenium Gallery etc are great, but in retail terms, the city centre's been badly let-down by some poor decisions from SCC. The business community are well-aware that money is being spent by Sheffielders in our neighbouring cities (Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham) because the city centre does not provide the full range that modern shoppers require.

 

Overall - all the multiple threads on the Sheffield Forum, regarding IKEA, Next H&G, BMW, Sevenstone, Meadowhall, The Moor, the Markets, retail & leisure planning decisions, parking charges etc - could all be merged into one mega-thread, as the issues are all related in some way.

 

---------- Post added 17-04-2013 at 11:49 ----------

 

… of course, joining all those related thread subjects together, is something that SCC could do in real life.

 

Although, that might almost be like working towards a strategy, of all things - something they're not that used to!