The Bridges Shopping Centre, commonly known as ‘The Bridges’ 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 collec ...

located in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

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 ...

. The centre was opened by Princess Royal, Anne in 1988.

Shops

The center compromises 79 stores, including 2 anchor tenants,

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 u ...

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, totalli ...

. There are also 9 food outlets on site, ranging from coffee shops to cafes, including a Greggs Cafe & Esquires Coffee branch. As a result of

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

entering administration, their anchor outlet at the center closed in May 2021, which reduced the total number of anchors from 3 to 2. In December 2021, the supermarket chain

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 ...

confirmed they would be closing the Tesco Express store located within the center in Summer 2022. The store closed on 2 April 2022.

Car Parking

The shopping center offers over 900 parking spaces in 2 car parks, a multi-story car park, and a rooftop car park. Both car parks operate with an hourly charge the majority of the time, with the following exceptions: Sundays & Bank Holidays have a single charge for parking during the day (8 AM-6 PM), and free parking is available Thursday Evenings between 5:30 PM & 9:00 PM. The car park was open 24 hours a day until May 2017.

Ownership

Heron International owned the centre, until it was sold to

Land Securities Land Securities Group plc is the largest commercial property development and investment company in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust (REIT) when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is ...

in 1993, for a reported £39 million. A further sale took place in 2014, which resulted in clients of AEW Europe acquiring the centre for £153 million. The centre continues to be owned by AEW Europe at present.

Development

In 2000, the ‘old central bus station’, adjacent to the center was demolished and the land was acquired. This land was used to create a significant expansion that almost doubled the size of the center, and made it fully covered. Previously some areas of the centre were not covered, resulting in the centre having the nickname of ‘Windy City’. In September 2010,

announced a £15 million development to build a 3-story (60,000sq ft)

store. The store later opened in November 2012. In May 2020,

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 ...

expanded their store by over 4,000sq ft from 10,221sq ft to 14,710sq ft. This was achieved by acquiring an adjoining vacant unit. This allowed them to open a new childrenswear section and expand their existing homewares selection.

Transport Links

Bus

The nearest bus stops to the centre are Holmside and vine place, both located almost directly adjacent. Bus services run frequently throughout the North East to the centre, including the Coast & Country (8) provided by GoNorthEast (from Stanley, Durham) and the Black Cats (2) operating between Washington & Sunderland (via the centre).

Metro

The nearest metro stations to the centre are Park Lane and Sunderland, which is also the town’s main railway station. Both Park Lane and Sunderland are located less than one mile away. Onward journeys by foot take around 5–10 minutes.

References

External links

The Bridges Shopping Centre - Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges Shopping centres in Tyne and Wear Buildings and structures in the City of Sunderland