Victoria Quarter
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The Victoria Quarter is an upmarket shopping area in Leeds, England. It consists of three blocks situated between Briggate and Vicar Lane, comprising the County Arcade, Cross Arcade, Queen Victoria Street, Leeds Queen Victoria Street and King Edward Street.
This development was built around 1900 and designed by the theatre architect Frank Matcham, and originally it also included his Empire Palace Theatre, but this was demolished in the 1960s. The exteriors are largely of faience from the Burmantofts Pottery works, and the interiors of the arcades contain a number of mosaics and plentiful use of marble. The Quarter was restored in phases between 1990 and 1996, during which a glass roof was also erected over Queen Victoria Street.
The Victoria Quarter is home to around seventy retailers including the first Harvey Nichols store outside their original Knightsbridge, London branch. This opened in 1996 and occupies the site of the Empire Palace.
Louis Vuitton opened its tenth UK store in the Victoria Quarter on September 19, 2006 and is the first UK Louis Vuitton store outside London to have its own VIP area. The store sells most of Louis Vuitton's Lines with the exception of its prêt-à-porter lines.
Other shops in the Victoria Quarter include: Diesel, FCUK, Ted Baker, Swarovski, Lacoste, Firetrap, Vivienne Westwood, Hugo Boss, and All Saints. The upmarket Lingerie dealer Agent Provocateur opened its first store in Leeds in the Victoria Quarter in December 2006.
Upmarket leather goods brand Mulberry will open its first Leeds store in the Victoria Quarter, opposite the Louis Vuitton store in May 2008.
Recently further refurbishment of units on King Edward Street have attracted a multitude of new retailers, including a Paul Smith flagship store (the third in England, after Nottingham and London), a Nicky Clarke salon, the third UK branch of The North Face and the first ever Religion store.
Confidence in the Victoria Quarter has seen occupancy reach 100%, buoyed by the latest openings of Arrogant Cat Boutique, their first store outside of London and planned openings of a dedicated accessories branch of Reiss opposite their main store on County Arcade and Church's shoes, again their first store outside of London.
[edit] Stores in the VQ
- Adecco, Agent Provocateur, All Saints, Anthony's Patisserie, Aqua Couture, Aspecto, Austravel, Autumn & May, Azendi, Arrogant Cat
- B&R, Bayliffe & Lupton, Berrys, Boodle-am, Bravissimo, Brora, Brossgill Opticians
- Cadeaux, Charbonnel Et Walker, Chinelli, Coast, Crabtree & Evelyn
- Daisy Chain, Diesel
- East
- FCUK, Firetrap, Formes, French Revolution, French Revolution Bagels
- G Lovis, Gieves & Hawkes
- Hair Plus, Harvey Nichols, Hawes and Curtis, High & Mighty, HL Brown, Hobbs
- Itiz
- James Macintyr & Co Ltd, Jeffery-West, Jigsaw, Jo Malone
- Karen Millen, Kookai, Kurt Geiger
- Lacoste, Life, Links of London, LK Bennett, Louis Vuitton
- Mulberry, Moda in Pelle, Molton Brown
- Neal's Yard Remedies, Nicholas Deakins, Nicky Clarke, North Face
- Olivers, Oliver Sweeney, Optical Express
- Paul Smith
- Quiksilver
- Reiss, Religion , Rose & Co
- Shade Station, Space NK Apothercary, Swarovski
- T.M. Lewin, Ted Baker, Teddy & Co, The VIP Lounge, The White Company
- Vicky Martin, Vivienne Westwood
- Whistles, World of Dance
- Yorkshire Jewellery Limited
