Intu Metrocentre

The intu Metrocentre is the largest shopping mall and leisure center in the United Kingdom, considering the retail size of a shopping mall. It was opened on 14 October 1986. Since then, imaginative redevelopment programs have kept the Centre at the lead of retail competition constructively with new shopping centers throughout Europe.

In earlier days, it was familiarly known as Metrocentre. However, after Intu Properties took possession, it was named Intu Metrocentre. Its address is Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE11 9YG.

It is built as a two-story building with a retail area of 194,400 square meters. It has five main malls. They are named after five different colors: red, green, blue, yellow, and platinum. A dynamic retail development of the Red Mall added 34,467 square meters of extra retail space. Besides these, it is designed with shopping zones highlighting independent retailers. These are the Village, the Forum, and the Qube, and they house over 50 restaurants and cafés.

The cautious mix of retailers in Intu Metrocentre aims to offer an excellent choice of shops and services. Remarkably, its aim is successful. Consumers are happily admitting that they can shop for everything they want, from household necessities to fashion and beauty, under the same roof. It has now become renowned for its variety of small traders. The shopping mall has more than 340 shops. The major fashion retailers are British Home Stores, Primark, Next, Topman, H&M, New Look, River Island, Zara, USC, and Tucci. Other major retailers are Apple Store, Argos, HMV, WH Smith, Jessops, Boots, Carphone Warehouse, and TK Maxx.

It has three anchor tenants. The shopping center is the first, featuring the out-of-town “Marks & Spencer.” Marks & Spencer, a renowned retailer, specializes in luxury fashion and exotic food products. The other two anchor tenants are Debenhams and House of Fraser. Debenhams is a multinational retail chain spread over 172 locations worldwide in a departmental store format. House of Fraser has their 60 department stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

It is located between the new MetroCentre Qube and the Metro Retail Park. This area includes several world-class restaurants and cafés, such as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Harvester Restaurants, Toby Carvery, and a drive-thru Starbucks. However, the majority of restaurants, such as Zizzi, Frankie and Benny’s, Nandos, PizzaExpress, Wagamama, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Big Lukes, Yo! Sushi, etc., are located in Metrocentre Qube.

Metrocentre offers a variety of ways to keep shoppers charmed after a day of retail therapy. The New Metrocentre Qube of the redeveloped Yellow Mall houses a Namco Funscape, an Odeon cinema, and numerous restaurants. The Odeon cinema is a 12-screen movie theater with a high-quality VIP lounge and an IMAX screen.  The Namco Funscape is an indoor amusement arcade with a dodgem ride and an 18-lane 10-pin bowling alley. The New Metroland is the largest indoor amusement park in all of Europe. The park has a roller coaster, pirate ship, waltzers, Ferris wheel, miniature railway, and dodgem cars, among other rides.

This wonderful shopping center has a capacity of 10,000 cars for parking. However, a railway station, namely MetroCentre Railway Station, is on the Tyne Valley Line. On the other hand, intu Metrocentre has its junction to cope with increased traffic levels. However, using Newcastle Airport, national and international visitors can visit the shopping area via air. On the other hand, from the Netherlands, visitors can travel by ferry to North Shields.