Lakeside Shopping Centre
 Lakeside eastern entrance |
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| Location | Thurrock, UK |
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| Coordinates | 51°29′15″N 0°17′0″E / 51.4875°N 0.283333°ECoordinates: 51°29′15″N 0°17′0″E / 51.4875°N 0.283333°E |
| Opening date | 25 October 1990 |
| Developer | Capital |
| Owner | Capital |
| No. of stores and services | 239 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,434,000 sq ft (133,200 m2) |
| Parking | 13,000 spaces |
| No. of floors | 3 |
| Website | www.lakeside.uk.com |
The Lakeside Shopping Centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It was opened on 25 October 1990 by Princess Alexandra, Marcus Bradford and Angus Ogilvy.[1]
The shopping centre, in addition to the retail parks, forms one of the largest shopping areas in a single location within Europe, with almost 2,600,000 square feet (240,000 m2) of retail space on a site of 200 acres (0.81 km2). The community of Chafford Hundred has grown to the east of the centre since its opening. Its main rival is the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe, Kent just across the River Thames.
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[edit] Main shopping centre
The shopping centre is the seventh largest in Britain with 1,434,000 sq ft (133,200 m2) available as retail floorspace[2] - the MetroCentre in Gateshead, after its expansion in 2004, is the largest. There are 240 shops, of which there are 4 anchor stores, 50 cafes and restaurants and a 26-acre (110,000 m2) lake named Alexandra Lake with a PADI certified diving school complex. Lakeside has on average 500,000 visitors per week.
It is currently open on weekdays from 10 am to 10 pm, Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. The centre's car parks have capacity for 13,000 cars.
[edit] Previous shops
[edit] Transport connections
The centre has a direct link to Chafford Hundred railway station and is connected to the M25 motorway which is London's outermost ring road, as well as to the A13 road which connects central and east London to Basildon and Southend-on-Sea. It is connected to the London Bus network by London Buses routes 370 and 372 with other operators such as Arriva, Ensignbus and First Essex also providing bus services to the centre. Route X80 operated by Ensignbus provides a link to Chafford Hundred Station and Bluewater across the Dartford Crossing. First London have recently introduced Route 265 which provides a vital link to Brentwood and Ensignbus will recently introduce another route to Brentwood called the X81 and will run non-stop between Lakeside and Brentwood and will go from Brentwood High Street to Shenfield and Hutton then continue in a circular motion to Brentwood terminating at Brentwood station.
In 2007 London Transport announced that standard London bus fares apply to routes 370 and 372 for all stops up to and including Lakeside (standard fares had previously ended at the Greater London/Thurrock boundary, with an additional rate required to complete journeys to Lakeside).
There is also an hourly Monday to Saturday service provided by Arriva Southend called service 5 'Basildon Direct' to Southend via Basildon, although it is much quicker to take the train from Lakeside to Southend, as the bus journey takes 2 hours.
[edit] New developments
To ensure the centre maintains its competition with the newer (and what is perceived by some as more 'upmarket') Bluewater shopping centre, which lies just over the Thames in Greenhithe, Lakeside has recently undergone major refurbishment at a cost of £30 million. This included new Italian porcelain flooring, new lighting, a new ceiling and new glass roofs which allow much more natural light into the shopping centre. There are now also new, faster lifts, and 4 more escalators along with automatic entrance doors. The refurbishment has also encouraged refitting of many shops so that they complement the new surroundings. In September 2005, Next opened an 18,600 sq ft (1,730 m2). extension to their store.
The Lakeside Pavilion, a market area adjoined to the main shopping centre via a covered bridge was closed in 2006, refurbished, and re-opened in June 2007 as 'The Boardwalk'.
The Boardwalk provides an additional 59,000 sq ft (5,500 m2). of retail space for 11 new restaurants along with more retail and leisure space, as well as a 10 metre boardwalk, offering external seating which overlooks Alexandra Lake. The Old Orleans bar and restaurant boat was also refurbished and re-opened on the same day, with new features including a rooftop bar.
Vue cinema formed part of the old Lakeside Pavilion, with a 7 screen cinema. This closed on 11 January 2007 to be refurbished, and was re-opened on Friday 15 June 2007; the refurbishment resulted in 9 state of the art screens with stadium seating, including a premium "Gold Class" screen housing luxury reclinable armchair-style seating, and a special screen that would show major sporting, music and gaming events as well as key films. This 'Evolution Screen', with a combination of giant bean bag chairs and sofas, was the first of its kind in the UK.[3]
Apple opened[4] its tenth UK store at Lakeside Shopping Centre.[5]
Marks & Spencer, one of the centre's 4 anchor stores, applied for planning permission in July 2008 to allow construction of a 23,970 sq ft (2,230 m2) third storey extension to their store, in addition to an extensive refurbishment of the store layout and customer facilities. The application was approved at the end of October 2008 although no construction has taken place as of June 2010.[6][7]
Supergroup, owners of the Cult and Superdry brands will open its largest-ever store at the centre in July 2010, in the unit previously occupied by Woolworths.[8] Ed's Easy Diner also opened their fifth restaurant in the centre's food court in July 2010.[9]
On May 27, 2010, it was announced that Taco Bell would be revived in the UK and its first new location would be at Lakeside. The restaurant opened 28 June 2010.[10]
[edit] Retail parks
There are also two retail parks nearby called the Lakeside Retail Park and The Junction. Lakeside Retail Park has a number of stores such as:
The Junction has shops such as:
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In August 2009, it was announced that US retail giant Best Buy would be opening one of its first UK stores at The Junction. The company had signed a 10 year lease for a 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) megastore located on the site of the former Courts store. The new store opened 30 April 2010.
In a move to counter the opening of Best Buy, Currys signed up to take on 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) of retail space in Lakeside Retail Park, on the site vacated by Danish Store ILVA. Currys opened the new megastore in Spring 2010 with hopes to shake off the tag of 'The Death Store' on a site considered to be jinxed, after Marks & Spencer abandoned plans to open its Lifestore, and the demise of ILVA after a much lauded UK launch.
[edit] Docusoap
In 1998, Lakesiders was a BBC docusoap narrated by Pauline Quirke following the activities of management, shopkeepers and staff of the shopping centre. The fractious working relationship between Essex FM's breakfast show DJ Martin Day and his boss Paul Chantler also featured. The theme music was by Simon May. A new series, Return to Lakesiders, was filmed by the BBC in 2007 and was broadcast on BBC Two 18–22 August 2008.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?storycode=3023388
- ^ Russell Ash, Top 10 of Britain (Hamlyn, 2009)
- ^ Vue cinema Thurrock
- ^ "Geekanoids: Apple Store Lakeside Opening! Fun had by all!". http://www.geekanoids.co.uk/2007/10/apple-store-lakeside-opening-fun-had-by.html. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ^ "Apple Store (United Kingdom) - Lakeside". http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/lakeside/week/20080504.html. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ^ "Marks & Spencer floorspace extension consultation". http://democracy.thurrock.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=11693. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
- ^ "Thurrock Gazette 20/10/08". http://www.thurrockgazette.co.uk/news/3774728.New_jobs_to_be_created_at_M_S_after_DC_approval_of_extension_plan. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=36&storycode=3160216&c=1
- ^ http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=39&storycode=3158525
- ^ "Food chain to premiere at Lakeside". Thurrock Gazette. 27 May 2010. http://www.thurrockgazette.co.uk/news/8189126.Food_chain_to_premiere_at_Lakeside/. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
