West Quay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WestQuay is a shopping centre in Southampton, England.

Entrance to WestQuay from Portland Terrace

WestQuay has an area of 800,000 square feet of retail space (74,000 m²) and contains around a hundred shops, including major retailers such as, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Zara, Schuh, USC, Benetton, Bank and many more top brand names. An Apple Retail Storeis also planned to open in early 2007.

It is situated in the centre of the city, close to the docks, with entrances on the main High Street (Above Bar Street), on Portland Terrace, through Waterstone's and through John Lewis. There is also a built in multi storey car park with an entrance into the centre along with a 3 tier car park beneath. Building work began in 1997 as the former Daily Echo building and Pirelli Cable Works were demolished to make way for the centre. The centre was opened on 28th September, 2000.

The John Lewis store came as a replacement for the local department store Tyrrell & Green (a branch of the John Lewis partnership), which was met with mixed emotions from the local people. Marks & Spencer re-located from Above Bar Street to take the second anchor store.

There have been a few major changes to the centre's shops since its opening. The Tower Records (which faced fierce competition from the HMV store across the street) was replaced with a Nike store, which has closed after just a few months. This unit is currently empty.

A regular free shuttle bus service connects WestQuay with Southampton Central railway station and Town Quay.