The Shires

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The interior of The Shires, showing evidence of the extension and refurbishment work that is taking place

The Shires is a shopping centre in Leicester, England. It shares its name with a smaller centre in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. It was opened in 1991 to supplement the ageing and run-down Haymarket Centre. It was built on a central location within the city centre on Eastgates and High Street. Frontages of buildings that were demolished were retained and new external construction was in a mock-olde style.

An extension opened in 1994, with a frontage onto Church Gate, and another extension (called 'Shires West') is under construction which will nearly double the retail space available. This extension will be between the existing centre and the inner ring-road. The extension will include a John Lewis department store, of which there is not a branch in Leicester at the moment, a Cinema de Lux, and a new bowling alley (the old one having been demolished to make way for the extension). There will also be two new public squares, residential apartments, a bus interchange and further car parking areas on the opposite side of the ring road, linked by a footbridge.

In July 2006 is was announced that when the construction of the newly extended Shires and the refurbishment of the existing centre is completed in 2008, it will be renamed the Highcross Quarter, relating to Highcross Street, which runs along one side of the new development. [1] This has received a mixed reaction, with criticism directed in particular at the use of the word "quarter" as opposed to "centre". [2]