The Galleries was a

shopping complex A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

in the town centre of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

owned by

Wigan Council The Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in the United Kingdom. It consists of 75 Councillors with one-third being elected every three years in four. The borough is separated into 25 war ...

. It was divided into three sections formed from three formerly independent schemes: The Galleries Shopping Centre, Marketgate Shopping Centre and The Makinson Arcade. The eight-acre complex featured a combination of enclosed malls,

walkways In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. ''The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...

and open squares, and accounts for almost a quarter of the town centre's footprint. In total there is around of retail space.

History

The Marketgate Shopping Centre, originally called The Wigan Centre Arcade, was built 1972 in the town centre on former commercial yards and markets.Wigan Town Centre Trails
/ref> It opened in 1974 and went under radical remodelling in 1988 when the adjoining Galleries Shopping Centre was constructed. The Galleries, with then 60 retail spaces, was completed 1990 and opened in 1991. The many arcades and walks in the Galleries are named after the former local authorities which now make-up the Wigan Metropolitan Borough. The Galleries was owned by

who sold it to the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

in 1996 for over £90 million. Both centres, though connected, were independent of one another and were only brought into joint ownership in 2002 when Prime Commercial Properties acquired both premises. In 2006, they were sold to Propinvest Limited, who subsequently also acquired the nearby Victorian Makinson Arcade, which was built in the 1890s. In October 2015,

Colony Capital DigitalBridge Group, Inc. is a global digital infrastructure investment firm. The company owns, invests in and operates businesses such as cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Digita ...

purchased the whole complex as part of a portfolio transaction, and commissioned the Ellandi retail group to manage the centre. Due to 'years of stagnation and decline' the complex was brought back under public ownership by Wigan Council in March 2018, who purchased it for £8 million, using money from its Manchester Airport dividend. This was part of the Council's ''The Deal'' program which aims to revitalise the town centre. In 2019, The Fire Within Festival was held on the top floors of the Galleries in six vacant retail spaces. The festival featured art, performances and exhibitions, and was managed by the local artists

AL and AL Al Holmes and Al Taylor also known as AL and AL are British filmmakers and visual artists. Known for their surrealist films, they combine live action performance with computer generated environments to create dream worlds in film. Since 2001 the ...

. Plans were drawn up in November 2021 to demolish the centre. In 2022, the centre was closed off to the public and demolition work commenced in November of the same year.

Decline

Entrance to Marketgate shopping centre, Wigan

Since the opening of the Grand Arcade shopping centre in 2007, situated less than 100 yards away, a number of retailers have relocated from The Galleries to it including

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 St ...

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 Isl ...

. The complex also had big blows in 2016 when

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

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 headqu ...

both announced they would be closing down their shops in the centre. In late 2016 a large portion of the Marketgate Shopping Centre was sectioned off from the public due to low unit rentals. , the majority of the 144 retail units in the complex are vacant, with only around 50 in use.Stores ‐ the Gallaries
gallerieswigan.co.uk Retrieved 11 April 2020 Council fears of continued decline, potentially leading to closure and a mothballed site, contributed to their purchase of it in 2018. It finally closed in 2022.

Future

In 2014 outline planning approval was granted for a £60 million redevelopment of the area into the 'Makinson Quarter' and the creation, on the site, of a new shopping mall of 26 larger retail spaces.£60m Wigan town centre masterplan gets go ahead
''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'', 11 November 2014 However with the complex's purchase by the council, this proposal has been scrapped, and they instead want to retain the site but revitalise it with new leisure, food and drink facilities and residential development.Wigan joins roster of councils investing in retail
''Place North West'', 07 March 2018; Retrieved 25 March 2018 A formal procurement process was launched by the Council in 2020 for a partner to undertake a £125 million redevelopment of the complex. The redevelopment is expected to take seven years.

Gallery

File:The Galleries, Wigan - geograph.org.uk - 961449.jpg, The entrance to the Galleries on Market Place File:Makinson Arcade Wigan.jpg, The entrance to the Makinson Arcade File:The Galleries, Wigan - geograph.org.uk - 961439.jpg, Inside Leigh Arcade in the Galleries File:Wigan Outdoor Market - geograph.org.uk - 961445.jpg, A view from the Galleries looking towards Wigan Outdoor Market on Wigan Square File:Wigan, Tyldesley Arcade (geograph 3297323).jpg, Inside Makinson Arcade File:Inside the Marketgate Shopping Centre, Wigan.jpg, Inside the Marketgate Shopping Centre

References

External links

The Galleries website

Acuitus - The Galleries Shopping Centre Map
{{Shopping centres in Northwest England Shopping centres in Greater Manchester Buildings and structures in Wigan