Cribbs Causeway

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Facts and statistics
Cribbs Causeway

Location	Bristol, UK
Opening date	1998
Owner	Capital Shopping Centres Prudential
No. of stores and services	135
No. of anchor tenants	2
Total retail floor area	995,000 ft² (92,436m²)
No. of floors	2

The Mall. Escalators connect the upper and lower shopping levels.

Cribbs Causeway retail park - central atrium from the south

Cribbs Causeway is a road just north of Bristol, England, which has given its name to a large out-of-town shopping centre. Cribbs Causeway is situated in Patchway, South Gloucestershire, near Filton Airfield. The primary access routes are the A4018 from Bristol, the M5 Junction 17 and the Patchway bypass road. The Mall, with around 14 million visitors a year, is one of the two major shopping centres in the Bristol area, the other being Broadmead.

The road runs from the northern edge of Bristol at Henbury to a point just beyond the M5 junction. It now forms parts of the A4018 and B4055. The route is the former Roman road from central Bristol to the crossing point of the River Severn at Aust.

1 Name origin
2 The Mall
3 Other sections
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Name origin

The name of the road is often said to owe its name to Tom Cribb, a famous bare-knuckle boxer from the Bristol area. However, this was proved wrong in the 1960s by the discovery of a map showing the current name dated to four years prior to his 1781 birth.^[1] The book's author goes on to speculate that the true origin of the name may be from Crybe's dwelling (Crybe being a personal name), or from crib – a manger or hovel. But all that we can truly glean from this is that the causeway - i.e. the Roman road - was named for a family with the surname Cribb (which may or may not have been closely related to the boxer's family: he was from Hanham on the opposite side of Bristol). This local family was probably also commemorated in the smallholding called Crybescroft which existed in Henbury in 1281.^[2]

[edit] The Mall

Main article: The Mall, Cribbs Causeway

The Mall, opened on March 31, 1998, comprises 135 shops on two levels, although some of the large stores occupy more levels. The major businesses are Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and Boots. At its centre point The Mall has a large fountain with a water display. Money thrown into the fountain is donated to local charities, the company reports it raises in excess of £10,000 a year for local charities^[3]. Above the fountain is the food court.

To celebrate the Mall's ten year anniversary, the company announced a five million pound refurbishment of the food court that will be completed in two stages with completion in May 2009^[4]. The food court will be renamed 'The Avenue'.

[edit] Other sections

The Venue is an entertainment complex featuring a VUE cinema, a Hollywood Bowl (opened in November 2004, location was previously a Dave & Busters), Fitness First and eating places, such as Frankie & Benny's and TGI Fridays.

The two retail parks are warehouse style shops with entrances from outside. The first retail park is a group of large shops containing shops such as Argos, Currys, Comet and PC World. Nearby is a second retail park containing shops such as Halfords, TK Maxx, Carpet World and Hobbycraft.

Other shops include the United Kingdom's first ASDA-Wal*Mart hypermarket, the first Morrisons supermarket in the south of England which opened in September 2003, Toys "R" Us, Makro and DFS, also car dealers, warehouses, pubs and hotels. In a lane that passes under the motorway, is the Cribbs Business Centre.

A B&Q Warehouse is now completed on the site previously owned by Tile World and Magnet. It is situated near the Morrisons supermarket. The old building which housed B&Q, near TK Maxx and Hobbycraft, has been demolished. A new retail unit has been erected in its place^[5]. This new retail unit houses a Tesco Homeplus and Land Of Leather.