The Gyle Shopping Centre is located in the

South Gyle South Gyle (pronounced ) is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying on the western edge of the city and to the south and west of an area of former marshland once known as the Gogarloch, on the edge of Corstorphine. Most of the buildings in th ...

area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The main centre has two anchor tenants,

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

and

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

(formerly

Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...

), at opposite ends of the shopping centre.

Construction

A new district shopping centre for West Edinburgh was proposed by a public inquiry in 1987. The findings of the West Edinburgh Inquiry of 1989 were approved by the then

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

. The floor space in the shopping centre, which was originally called Maybury Park, was later scaled down to 9,290 m² (100,000 sq ft) to protect nearby retail areas, such as

Wester Hailes Wester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Wester Hailes borders on Kingsknowe and Longstone to the east. Bankhead Industrial Estate and Sighthill Park lie to the north. History Although named after a large private ho ...

and

Corstorphine Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...

. The management contractor,

Wimpey Construction George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a constructi ...

, began work on The Gyle in April 1992, and it opened in October 1993. A food court was later added in the beginning of 1994, by the Catering Development.

Expansion

The food court was added shortly after opening. Marks & Spencer have since added more shop space of their own, and took the opportunity to change their floor layout - adding a larger food hall - during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in 2021. The centre applied for planning permission to expand the food hall and add a cinema in 2019. The plans would have moved the bus stance away from the front of the centre, and were ultimately rejected by the City of Edinburgh Council's planning committee due to potential issues with public transport and cycling that the changes could cause. Ownership of the centre then changed and the new owners started looking at grand plans to change the nature of the shopping centre to closer resemble a local town centre rather than an out of town shopping centre.

Ownership

''Gyle Shopping Centre'' opened in October 1993. The centre began as a joint development between Edinburgh Council, Marks and Spencer and Asda, although by the time of opening, Asda was replaced by Safeway. In 1997, Gyle was purchased outright by Marks and Spencer, who then sold the centre to USS in March 2000. Ownership of the centre changed again in late 2020 or early 2021. A failed planning application to expand the food court and add a cinema to the centre has hit the complex hard, along with the pandemic.

Current stores

The Gyle has many stores, including

WHSmith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

JD Sports JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as JD Sports or JD, is a British sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Pentlan ...

Holland & Barrett Holland & Barrett (H&B) is a multinational chain of health food shops with over 1,300 stores in 16 countries, including a substantial presence in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, ...

Schuh Schuh (pronounced //, like "shoe") is a Scottish footwear retailer based in Livingston, Scotland. It has 132 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company is predominantly a branded shoe stockist, selling over 80 brands, including: Conve ...

and

River Island River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online. Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isla ...

. The food court was refurbished in 2005, and currently contains two outlets.Gyle Shopping Centre, Edinburgh, Shop 'til You Drop At Edinburgh's Premier Shopping Centre
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Transport

The Gyle Centre is served by its own dedicated

tram stop A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, bu ...

. The Gyle Centre is also served by

Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian ...

services 2, 12, 21, 22, 36 & Skylink 400 and

McGill's Scotland East McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland.A720 The Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east Eng ...

Edinburgh City Bypass The Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east Eng ...

road. It is also linked under an underpass to

Edinburgh Gateway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , symbol2 = edinburgh , image = Edinburgh Gateway Station, view south from the pedestrian overbridge. Scotland.jpg , caption = Edinburgh Gateway s ...

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyle Shopping Centre Tourist attractions in Edinburgh Shopping malls established in 1993 Shopping centres in Edinburgh 1993 establishments in Scotland Edinburgh Trams stops