Highcross Leicester: Difference between revisions

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Template:Distinguish2 The Shires is a shopping centre in Leicester, England. It was opened in 1991 to supplement the ageing and run-down Haymarket Centre. It was built on a central location within the city centre on Eastgates and High Street. Frontages of buildings that were demolished were retained and new external construction was in a mock-olde style. An extension opened in 1994, with a frontage on to Church Gate.

The Shires contains over 80 shops, with a range of both large and smaller units, including branches of the department stores Rackhams and Debenhams. There are also two café areas, and a roof-top car park.

Highcross Leicester

A further extension, known as "Shires West" during the planning and early construction phases, is currently being built, which will nearly double the retail space available. This extension will be between the existing centre and the inner ring-road. The extension will include a John Lewis department store, of which there is not a branch in Leicester at the moment, and a Cinema de Lux, the only mainstream cinema in the city centre. There will also be two new public squares, a restaurant quarter, residential apartments, a bus interchange and a further 2000-space car park on the opposite side of the ring road, linked by a footbridge, which is partially to replace one of the earlier Shires car parks that was demolished to make way for the new extension.

In July 2006 it was announced that the construction of the newly extended Shires and the refurbishment of the existing centre will open to the public on 4th September 2008.

Public Preview Open Day - June 1 2008

On Sunday 1st June 2008 an open day was held by Highcross Leicester to show the people around the new development where more than 1,000 people turned up.

Highcross Leicester Tenants

Highcross has signed many designer fashion brands to open in their centre. G-star, Lacoste, Hugo boss,and Zara are some of the signings made.

The largest area of the development going to John Lewis who have taken a huge 4 floor accommodation at the centre.

References

External links

Template:Largest shopping centres in the United Kingdom

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 In July 2006 it was announced that the construction of the newly extended Shires and the refurbishment of the existing centre will open to the public on 4th September 2008.
-===Naming Controversies===
-On the 14th July 2006, it was announced that the entire centre would be renamed the "Highcross Quarter", relating to a Highcross that used to stand in what is now Highcross Street. This received a mixed reaction, with criticism directed in particular at the use of the word "quarter" as opposed to "centre". [http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132407&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132390&contentPK=14911544&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch]
-On the 19th July 2007, [[Hammerson]]  announced that the new name for the centre had changed, so that it would now be '''Highcross Leicester'''. [http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132407&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132390&contentPK=17870116&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch] On the 23rd July 2007, the ''[[Leicester Mercury]]'' reported that the latest name change had been the result of a year-long dispute.<ref>Name Dispute - The Original Press Release of the Wiccan Group involved., http://highcrossquarters.com/resources_press_releases.html</ref>
-with a local [[coven]] of [[witch]]es, who pointed out that "High Cross Quarter" is the name of a high point or major sabbat in the [[wiccan]] calendar, and registered five<ref>Name Controversy - Wiccans Groups 2nd Press Release detailing the 5 Domain names, http://highcrossquarter.com/resources_press_releases-2.html</ref> internet [[domain name]]s relating to the name.  The principle owners of the development, Hammerson Plc, refused to comment on the dispute, and claimed that the name change was to "give it a stronger identity for customers and raise the profile not only of the development but also the city." [http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132384&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232710&home=yes&more_nodeId1=132393&contentPK=17899700]
-The Daily Telegraph on the 25th July 2007 reported that the Highcross Leicester developers had their offer to buy the domain names from the witches involved rejected. The Daily Telegraph reported "Morrigan Wisecraft" the principle witch involved as saying "If we, a small wicca coven composed in the main of elderly grey-haired ladies in our twilight years with all our infirmities and aches, pains and frailties have inadvertently been 'faster off the mark' to obtain these domain names than a world-class, pin-stripe-suited multi-national like Hammerson then that, quite simply, is 'tough'."
-Despite Hammerson saying they were no longer interested in the highcrossquarter domain names for the renamed Highcross Leicester development as the name had now "evolved" , the Daily Telegraph reported that Hammerson had escalated the matter all the way to the United Nations WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) in Geneva where it was seeking a ruling on ownership of the highcrossquarter.com domain name.<ref>Name Controversy - Daily Telegraph 25th July 2007 - Hammerson seek ruling at United Nations WIPO - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1558352/Victory-for-witches-in-andpound350m-shops-fight.html</ref>
 ===Public Preview Open Day - [[June 1]] 2008===
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 The largest area of the development going to John Lewis who have taken a huge 4 floor accommodation at the centre.
-==The Shires Fire==
-On 7 September 2007 a fire on the extension roof saw over 50 firefighters fighting the blaze. the fire started by polystyrene tiles left on the roof.
 ==References==