The Hindpool Retail Parks are a set of four conjoined

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standalo ...

s in the

Hindpool Hindpool is an area and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Barrow Island, Barrow-in-Furness, Barrow Island, Central Barrow, Ormsgill, Parkside, Barrow-in-Furness, Parkside and the ...

area of

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(with the exception of one which straddles the border with

Central Barrow Central Barrow refers both to the town centre of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England and to the electoral ward that roughly covers the eastern part of that town centre. In 2001 5,584 ( ranking 5th out of 13) lived in the Central ward. The populat ...

). Some thirty stores and leisure facilities contain a total of of retail space (around one quarter of the borough's of retail floorspace). The four retail parks are Cornerhouse Retail Park, Cornmill Crossing, Hindpool Retail Park and Hollywood Park. The largest and only other retail park in Barrow is Walney Road Retail Park - Pound Stretcher, Argos Extra,

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

Home Bargains Home Bargains is a British variety store chain founded in 1976 by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England, as Home and Bargain. It is the trading name of TJ Morris Ltd. History The retailer was founded by owner Tom Morris in 1976 as a single store ...

Matalan Matalan is a British fashion and homeware retailer based in Knowsley, Merseyside. It was established by John Hargreaves in 1985, and is still owned by the Hargreaves family. , the company employed over 13,000, and had 230 stores in the United K ...

and Stollers.

Site history

All of the retail parks were built on former industrial land that during the early to mid-20th century played a major role in not only Barrow's but the entire country's economy. Hindpool Retail Park, alongside Craven Park stadium were built upon the site of the

Barrow Jute Works The Barrow Jute Works was a jute and flax mill located in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire (now Cumbria), England during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The mill was built for the ''Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company'' which was founded by J ...

which operated from 1870 to 1948. Cornerhouse Park and Cornmill Crossing were built on a site originally occupied by a cornmill and large interchange of the

Furness Railway The Furness Railway (Furness) was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England. History Formation In the early 1840s, the owners of iron ore mines in the Furness district of Lancashire became interested i ...

, while Hollywood Park was constructed on the southern perimeter of the former iron and steelworks which was operated by the

Barrow Hematite Steel Company The Barrow Hematite Steel Company Limited was a major iron and steel producer based in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire (now Cumbria), England, between 1859 and 1963. At the turn of the 20th century and the Technological Revolution it operated th ...

between 1859 and 1963 and was at one point the largest steelworks on earth.

Cornerhouse Retail Park

Cornerhouse Retail Park has seen many changes throughout its history,

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

has seen two huge expansions (including the addition of a large mezzanine floor) and has become a

Tesco Extra Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

store, Homebase also created a

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

floor to keep up with the competition from the likes of B&Q, although the store has now become a B&M, whilst Currys had a unit in the park before relocating to Hollywood Park when it was completed.Scheme information on www.completelyretail.co.uk
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Cornmill Crossing

Cornmill Crossing is the newest addition to the Hindpool Retail Parks complex. Despite it only being home to two units, both are amongst the larger stores in the area. Planning permission for the retail park was sought in January 2007 for the site which was formerly occupied by

United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU), the United Kingdom's largest listed water company, was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West Englan ...

water works, the plans were quickly approved to following month. An archeological dig was conducted by Greenlane Archeology of Ulverston. This was to uncover the remains of a steam cornmill built in 1870, but demolished in 1972 following a fire in the building which had stood empty for five years. The complex was designed by Craig and Green Architects and built in under a year. B&Q were the first top open their doors in July 2008, the new 'Mini Warehouse' was built to replace a rundown superstore on nearby Duke Street, the B&Q contains roughly of retail space - including a

garden centre A garden centre (Commonwealth English spelling; U.S. nursery or garden center) is a retail operation that sells plants and related products for the domestic garden as its primary business. It is a development from the concept of the retail plant n ...

and builders' yard. The other unit in Cornmill Park - a

JJB Sports JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, includ ...

Superstore, Fitness Club and Gym opened in September 2008. The two story building has a total floor area of and includes a long swimming pool. The store and fitness club now goes by the name

DW Sports Fitness DW Sports Fitness was a British retailing and fitness business, founded as a result of Dave Whelan's purchase of 50 JJB Sports fitness clubs with attached retail stores for £83.4 million in March 2009. The business would later encompass more th ...

after it was acquired by

Dave Whelan David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chai ...

in March 2009. Also worth of note is the supermarket

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 ...

which is located more or less next to Cornmill Crossing, only separated by

Michaelson Road Bridge Michaelson Road Bridge is a road bridge connecting Central Barrow to Barrow Island in south Cumbria, England. The original high-level bridge was a swing bridge and then replaced by a pair of lift and roll bridges constructed between 1800 and 188 ...

Hindpool Retail Park

Hindpool Retail Park is the only one of the four retail parks to have increased its number of units since opening.

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 ...

and the former

Brantano Brantano Footwear (''Brantano, en de wereld ligt aan je voeten'' (English: ''Brantano, and the world is at your feet'')) was a European chain of retail stores specialising in footwear for men, women and children, that was founded in Belgium. It ...

were built in 2005 on the site of a former women's institute that straddled the retail park, while a smaller building was constructed within the park itself in 2015 to house

Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. ...

and Subway. Plans in 2019 revealed that Burger King had plans to open up a store in the vacant Frankie and Benny's restaurant.

Hollywood Park

Hollywood Park is the most diverse of the four retail parks, as well as the second largest. Designed by Craig and Green Architects, plans were first submitted for a new leisure and retail complex in Barrow in October 1997, the local council approved these plans in April 1998. Throughout the rest of 1998 and 1999, a number of tenants lined up to move into Hollywood Park - with most of these being swiftly approved. Construction of the complex was completed just after the turn of the millennium. Electrical stores Comet and Currys both moved into Hollywood Park from smaller premises in Cornerhouse Retail Park. Hollywood Park is home to three food outlets, the largest

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

in Cumbria as well as a number of retail outlets with

floors. JJB Sports moved to a larger premises in Cornmill Crossing in 2008, whilst the likes of and Klaussner furniture fell victims to

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. Plans were recently approved for Aldi to combine the two former Dreams and B&M Bargains units into one, 1,395 square metre, 'superstore'. It is not yet known whether the Hindpool Park store will close. In total there are some 650 parking spaces within Hollywood Park, a detailed list of its current tenants are compiled below. Although not within Hollywood Park,

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...

Travis Perkins Travis Perkins plc is a British builders' merchant and home improvement retailer with head offices based in Northampton. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company began in 1797, ...

, th
Wacky Warehouse
and th
Owl and the Pussycat Restaurant
are located immediately north of the complex, and

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

and

Brewers Fayre Brewers Fayre is a licensed pub restaurant chain, with 161 locations across the UK as of August 2018. Owned by Whitbread, Brewers Fayre restaurants are known for serving traditional British pub food and for their Sunday Carvery. History The f ...

to the west.

Notes

* Unit contains a

mezzanine floor A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

* Unit contains two storeys * The floor area for B&M excludes the garden centre and mezzanine floor which were constructed by former tenants

Homebase Homebase is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, unti ...

* Dunelm Mill was formerly * Unit was built on the site of the former

John Whinnerah Institute The John Whinnerah Institute is a Grade II listed Art Deco building and former educational establishment located on Abbey Road in Barrow-in-Furness, England. Having been constructed between 1937 and 1938 on the site of the demolished Jute Works ...

External links

British Land Cornerhouse Park Brochure

British Land Hindpool Retail Park Brochure

Standard Life Investments Hollywood Park Brochure

References

{{coords, 54.112, -3.23, display=title

Hindpool Retail Parks The Hindpool Retail Parks are a set of four conjoined retail parks in the Hindpool area of Barrow-in-Furness, England, United Kingdom (with the exception of one which straddles the border with Central Barrow). Some thirty stores and leisure facil ...