The Forge Shopping Centre (or Parkhead Forge) is in the East End of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, in

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...

. The shopping centre bore the name from the former

William Beardmore and Company William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 people. It was founded and ...

steel works site, which had closed in 1983.

History

Construction

The GEAR (

Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

) scheme was founded in 1976, then Europe's largest urban regeneration project of its kind, to provide "core areas with development potential" in the east end of Glasgow. A new shopping centre was part of the plan, ideally to replace the then recently closed Parkhead Forge plant of the Beardmore's steel works. The shopping centre was going to contain a supermarket, a new multiplex cinema and at least 40 units. Work on the shopping centre began in 1986, and the building was opened to the public on 10 October 1988. The main

anchor tenant In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. W ...

was a Gateway supermarket (at the time the largest in Scotland), but this changed over to

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 Yorks ...

early in 1990 and has remained as such ever since. The main entrances to the centre (on Duke Street and Gallowgate) feature distinctive glass pyramid designs.

Extension

A second phase of the Forge Shopping Centre in the mid-1990s incorporated a new indoor market and bingo hall to the east of the initial site, and a retail park, operated by a separate company, to the west (the latter being built over part of the historic

Camlachie Camlachie ( gd, Camadh Làthaich) is an area of the city of Glasgow in Scotland, located in the East End of the city, between Dennistoun to the north, and Bridgeton to the south. Formerly a weaving village on the Camlachie Burn, it then develop ...

neighbourhood). The retail park was expanded further in the early years of the 21st century to incorporate large branches of B&Q and

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 ...

. Recently, the centre was extended to allow space for a new department store. Currently, money is being spent on remodelling the centre and modernising it. A new ceiling and tiles on floor can currently be seen, partly constructed near the Dunnes Stores/Primark exit of the centre.

Market Village closure

On 15 November 2022 it was announced that the Forge Market Village would close with immediate effect due to the owners, Geraud UK Ltd, going into administration. This resulted in over 35 independent retailers including butchers, cafes, hairdressers and other small businesses being left without any premises. The market had been operating since 1989 when it was known as InShops. This did not affect

The Forge Market ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, a separate market operating nearby from Duke Street.

Current stores

The Forge has a range of shops including two anchor stores:

Primark Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not us ...

and

and a multiplex

Cineworld Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...

cinema on site. A McDonald's drive-thru is erected in the vicinity of the car park.

References

External links

The Forge official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forge Shopping Centre Shopping centres in Glasgow Shopping malls established in 1988 Cinemas in Glasgow Parkhead 1988 establishments in Scotland