Eldon Square Shopping Centre

Eldon Square Shopping Centre

Eldon Square logo
Location	Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Opening date	1976
Owner	Capital Shopping Centres Newcastle City Council
No. of stores and services	150
No. of anchor tenants	4
Total retail floor area	961,000ft² (89,277m²)
No. of floors	2

Eldon Square is a shopping centre in Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom. It was officially opened in 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II and is named after the original Eldon Square (now known as Old Eldon Square) which the shopping centre was built around.

The opening of the MetroCentre in nearby Gateshead during 1986 provided competition for Eldon Square, however, both are now owned by the Capital Shopping Centres group, thus resolving any serious commercial conflicts. A new extension to the complex called Eldon Garden was build in the late 1980s in a more contemporary style than the main centre. Eldon Leisure is a leisure centre built above the shopping areas that offers sporting, health and beauty facilities.

Reconstruction work began in June 2005 that will eventually turn the underground bus station into new shopping outlets. The bus station itself will close to the public in early 2006. A new outdoor bus station will be built adjacent to the centre in between the old underground bus station and the present Haymarket bus and Metro station. Plans are also well advanced to relocate market traders from the Green Market section of the centre to the Grainger Market to allow for redevelopment of this area into a new department store and additional bus station.

Notable stores

• John Lewis Newcastle, previously known as Bainbridge.
• Fenwick, flagship store and headquarters of the chain.

External links

• Official web site
• Unofficial website for Old Eldon Square (known locally as "the green")
• "Shopping in the Square will get even better" - Local News Article