Shopping in Livingston

Livingston is a large town in Scotland located about 11 miles (18 km) west of Edinburgh. The town has two railway stations (Livingston North and Livingston South), excellent bus services and roads connecting Livingston to the M8 motorway and the A71 road.

Shopping Centres

Livingston has three major shopping centres, and another three medium large retail parks and a cluster of small local stores located throughout the different areas.

The first phase of the Livingston's shopping centres was completed in 1976 to facilitate the needs of the local residents and workers The Centre at this time was called the "Livingston Centre". The first major refurbishment was completed in 1988 by Land Securities. The centre was extended by 230,000 sq ft (21,000 m²) in 1996, creating phase 2 of the already very successful development, bringing the size of the centre to over 550,000 sq ft (51,000 m²). It then became known as "The Almondvale Centre"

In early 1999, construction started on phase 3 of the development with the construction of McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Centre, (now renamed to Livingston Designer Outlet in 2007) and was opened in October 2000, with other work continuing into 2001. This development opened up over 80 new shops, 20 bars and restaurants, a fitness Suite, 4,000 new car parking spaces and an 8 screen Vue Cinemas cinema complex. In early 2007, another 15 shops were constructed within the centre replacing the "At home" area. Many businesses within this unit never re-opened in a new single unit. During this time, Asda Wal Mart constructed a new supercentre at the other end of the shopping centre in place of the old Woolorths (which had also been used as a Gateway supermarket). This supercentre is the largest of its kind in Europe.

Phase 4 of the development started in March 2007 which saw the old Safeway, (which had been closed since Morrisons built their new store in October 2005) demolished along with its car park. The car park between Almondvale Shopping Centre and the Designer Outlet was also removed. In its place, the new development was constructed until its opening in October 2008. Phase 4 was originally intended to be called 'The Elements', however Land Securities changed the name of it and the older centre to 'the centre' in time for the new centre being complete in October 2008.

The centre contains 35 shop units, with Marks & Spencer and Debenhams as anchor stores. Within this development, there will be socialising areas, bars, restaurants and a Winter Garden, bringing the Almondvale Centre Development to over a million sq. ft. The old Safeway carpark has been developed into a 3-storey car park providing another free 1500 spaces, with a state-of-the-art security system.

Shops

Livingston now has over 250 different retail units within Almondvale, including Debenhams, Next, Marks & Spencer, H&M, River Island, Waterstones, Asda WalMart Supercentre, Chiquito, Wetherspoons, ASK, Wagamama, McDonald's, BHS, Game, HMV, Sony Centre, Panasonic Store, Argos, Thorntons and Pizza Hut.

For more information including old pictures and history of the centre visit Livingstoni Online Community Website