The Grand Arcade is a

shopping centre 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 colle ...

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 ...

, England. Built in 2007, it consists of 39 retailers with a total annual footfall of 6.3 million people. It currently extends to , with units varying in size. The centre is owned and operated by RDI REIT, a property investment business. When built it was the UK's first

carbon neutral Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...

shopping centre, and so produces

net zero Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...

carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China an ...

. The Grand Arcade houses a bronze statue of

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...

History

The construction of the mall started in 2005 at a cost of £120 million. It was built on the former site of The Ritz, an

Art Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

cinema open from 1968-1997, Wigan Central railway station and Wigan Casino, a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

which operated between 1973 and 1981 and was known widely for its northern soul music.Grand Arcade History
www.grand-arcade.co.uk An exhibition space in the Grand Arcade holds some memorabilia and photographs of the Casino. Before construction began on the site, evidence was found by

Oxford Archaeology North Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the U ...

that it was a significant Roman site in Wigan during the late first and second centuries AD. These excavations revealed numerous artefacts, including a

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...

, pottery pieces, and tiles. One significant discovery was a

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

, which was used as a heating system in a Roman bathhouse. The hypocaust was restored and relocated to Concert Square, a communal area within Grand Arcade. After the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of ...

Modus, the original developer of the Grand Arcade, shelved plans for a mixed-use apartment block called ''Tower Grand'' which would have been built on the site adjoining the centre. As of 2020, the land for the planned apartment block remains unused and empty. The proposals were later scrapped after Modus went into administration in 2009.

Retail

The centre has several high street brands such as Boots, Waterstones and

H & M {{Infobox company , name = H&M , logo = H&M-Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.3 , image = H & M - Store (51396227419).jpg , type = Public ''aktiebolag'' , image_caption = H&M store on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan , trade_name = H&M , traded_as = ...

. It also holds ''The Casino Café'' which is themed on the historical Wigan Casino Social Club. In 2015 Clarks and New Look relocated their stores in Wigan to The Grand Arcade from The Galleries where they were previously based. All of the original four anchor stores have closed. BHS in 2016, when it went into administration, and

TK Maxx TK Maxx is a subsidiary of the American apparel and home goods company TJX Companies based in Framingham, Massachusetts. The stores operate throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, ...

in 2017 relocating to Robin Retail Park.

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 ...

has also relocated to the nearby retail park. In January 2021, the closure of all Debenhams stores in the UK was announced, effectively leaving the Grand Arcade without any anchor stores for the first time since its opening in 2007.

Transport

The shopping centre is bounded by Standishgate, Crompton Street, Millgate and Riverway. Some shops have two entrances - one to the internal mall and one onto the high street. It has two multi-storey carparks on Milgate and Crompton Street with over 850 spaces combined. Bus access is available at the nearby Wigan bus station. Two railway stations serve Wigan town centre,

Wigan Wallgate Wigan Wallgate railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town centre of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. The station serves two routes, the Manchester-Southport Line and the Manchester- Kirkby Line. It is 16 miles north ...

and Wigan North Western.Getting Here
www.grand-arcade.co.uk, Retrieved 28-05-17

References

External links

The Grand Arcade website
{{Shopping centres in Northwest England Shopping centres in Greater Manchester Buildings and structures in Wigan