The Galleries, Bristol

The Galleries
Location Broadmead, Bristol, England
Coordinates 51°27′24″N 2°35′23″W / 51.4567°N 2.5897°WCoordinates: 51°27′24″N 2°35′23″W / 51.4567°N 2.5897°W
Opening date October 1991
Owner HSBC European Active Real Estate Trust
No. of stores and services 71
No. of floors 3
Website www.galleriesbristol.co.uk

The Galleries (formerly The Mall Bristol but originally opened in 1991 as The Galleries Shopping Centre), is a shopping mall situated in the Broadmead shopping centre in Bristol city centre, England. Functioning as one of the city's retail malls, it is a three-storey building, which spans over Fairfax Street, where buildings used to include a large Woolworths and Millets, across to the former site of Fairfax House (a Co-operative department store built in 1962) where the Galleries car park now stands.

History

The Galleries Shopping Centre as it was originally know, opened in October 1991 in the wake of a UK recession, the shopping centre was later bought by The Mall Shopping Centre Fund (and re-named the Mall Bristol), managed by Capital & Regional and Aviva Investors.[1]

Despite it being called "the Mall Bristol" for a number of years, it was still referred to by its original name "the Galleries" by many people.

In January 2011, the centre was sold to HSBC European Active Real Estate Trust for £50.1 million,[2] and the name was restored to The Galleries.

One of the entrances called "The Greyhound" was originally a historic Public House which closed in the early 90's and incorporated into the building as an entrance.

With the opening of Cabot Circus and the recession of 2008, many of the chain shops moved out of the Galleries and into the new Cabot Circus. This resulted in a large amount of empty shops and a decline of what was Bristol's main shopping centre from the 1990's - 2000's.

Redevelopment

The shopping centre is currently undergoing a £1.5 million redevelopment to redevelop the entrances and to refurbish the mall as of March 2013.[3]

Over the years, there have been a few re-developments. In the 2000's Wilkinson extended their shop on the top floor. In 2011 the food area was moved from the top floor to the middle floor.

References

External links