Opened in
September 1998, this enormous new shopping and leisure complex
has already been designated the "Temple to Consumerism", and is
the largest centre of its kind to date in Europe.
Peel Holdings' Trafford Centre occupies a former wasteland site
of 300 acres in the Dumplington district on the outskirts of Trafford
Park; it took 27 months to build, employed over 3000 building
workers and cost some £600 million to complete.
Although it contains all the major high street department stores
and chains - (Debenhams, Boots Chemists, Burtons, The Body Shop,
Dorothy Perkins, W.H.Smith, Top Shop, British Home Stores, etc),
it is much more than a shopping centre. Its gigantic dining hall,
"The Orient", has innumerable fast food franchises and restaurants,
(including a speciality Chinese street), in a dramatically theatrical
ocean liner setting with swimming pool and performance stage with
a large film/TV screen.
Even when shops close in late evening, the leisure facilities
centred around the Orient , which also contain the UCI 20 Screen
Megaplex Cinema, continue on until 12midnight.
A covered
market area, the Festival Village, is included at the far end
of Peel Avenue, where independent trader's stores add a more localised
and down-scaled atmosphere than that found in the rest of the
centre.
The project
was controversial from the outset - surrounding towns and districts
like Bolton, Stockport, Altrincham and Warrington expect it to
draw shoppers from these districts and anticipate, (initially
at least), a 15-20% drop in retail sales as a result.
The Trafford Centre is a mammoth undertaking. It covers an area
equal to 30 football pitches, has onsite free parking for 10,000
cars and 300 coaches, there are 350 closed circuit TVs in operation,
its malls have over 3 miles of covered walkways, use 19 miles
of drainage, and its roof bears around 2 tons of water a second
in rainy weather. It produces 400 tons of waste packaging every
week and uses enough electricity to power a small town. It
is eventually expected to raise some £13 billion a year in till
receipts.
The Trafford
Centre abounds with superlatives; £40,000 worth of gold leaf decorates
the columns in the shopping malls. Its 3 massive domes dominate
the surrounding countryside for many miles and are a major new
feature on the adjacent M60 motorway, especially at night when
the whole complex is brightly floodlit. Its central glass dome
is about 2/3 the size of that on St Paul's Cathedral in London.
There are excellent facilities for the disabled, with a dedicated
65 space car park with "Shopmobility" facilities onsite. These
include electric wheelchairs. All entrances, lifts and escalators
are designed for wheelchair access. There are also facilities
for the visually impaired, with special lenses available at the
Customer Services Desk and the Shopmobility Unit. Mothers and
babies are equally well catered, with specialist baby changing
and breast feeding rooms, disposable nappy dispensers, and a milk
bottle heating facility in the Orient.
The children's
Play Area, Wonder World, can deal with up to 100 children and
there is a crèche facility for the over 2 year olds. Organised
entertainments are available, including performances by the Trafford
Centre Bears, magicians and jugglers. Children's buggies are available
from Customer Services desks, and security ID tags are available
for parents and children Public Bus services run directly into
the centre - these include services from Manchester Piccadilly,
Stockport, Bolton, Altrincham and most surrounding districts,
but also as far afield as Heaton Park in north Manchester. Taxi
services exist on site. Bus timetables and information schedules
are available from Customer Services.
There
are Customer Service Booths and Information Desks situated in
all main areas.
Shop Opening
Hours
Mon-Wed : 10.00am-8.00pm Thurs-Fri : 10.00am-9.00pm Saturday :
9.00am-7.00pm Sunday : 11.00am-5.00pm
Restaurant
Opening Hours
Open 7 days a week Mon-Fri : 10.00am-12midnight Saturday : 9.00am-12midnight
Sunday : 11.00am-12midnight
Entertainment
Opening Hours
Orient Cinema Mon-Thurs : 10.00am-12midnight Friday : 10.00am-3.00am
Saturday : 9.00am-3.00am Sunday : 11.00am-12.00midnight.
Customer
Phonelines
Directions : 0845-6040608
Customer Services : 0161-749 1717
Management Suite : 0161-746 7777
Crèche : 0161-746 9000
Shopmobility : 0161-749 1728
Buses - GMPTE : 0161-228 7811
The
Trafford Centre operates a non-smoking policy within the premises,
except in designated areas of the Orient.
See Also:
Shopping in Trafford Borough (Altrincham,
Hale, Timperley, etc).
