please empty your brain below
If dg is like me these Shopping Malls are places you go to see when they open and then never go to again.
It amazes me how people now spend their Saturdays and Sundays driving to, and then walking round Shopping Centres/Malls as a pleasurable day out.
For me certainly places to avoid unless absolutely necessary.
As for the queues at the Gap store tills, that may be deliberate as I guess queuing in a store is, for some people, all part of the "fun", it also makes the store look busy which attracts more people in.

John | 04.11.13 - 7:53 a.m. | #

Agreed. It looks like an awful place. If this is what people want then I despair at society.

dave | 04.11.13 - 8:05 a.m. | #

I might also comment that even in my winter retreat in Spain (I am back in London at present)there is no escape, last year a new shopping Mall opened the "Zena Boulevard", 3 years before that the "Habaneras Mall was built.
The U.S./Canada has many Malls and the Arab countries seem to be catching up.

John | 04.11.13 - 8:58 a.m. | #

I was there last Friday and was disappointed at how many empty units there were, but after wandering around for about an hour I finally made a couple of bargain purchases from M&S and one from Gap, but would agree with you about the length of the queues at Gap, I will go back but not for quite a while.

Fishislandskin | 04.11.13 - 9:30 a.m. | #

My mum decided to go take a look while she was at the library, but couldn't find it!! Turns out it was opening day too!
Interestingly, we have a postcard showing that her mother (my Grandmother) visited the Exhibition in 1924, as a child with her family on a trip to London from Cornwall!

CornishCockney | 04.11.13 - 9:54 a.m. | #

The LDO, in your excellent photos, looks rather like Stratford Westfield. This does not encourage me to visit the place.

You may not like what Wembley's turning into (nor do I), but at least it's ceasing to be such a run down dump.

| 04.11.13 - 11:29 a.m. | #

This description of how Wembley is now is sad. The new centre sounds like a real commercial wankfest. Hey, after all, all our lives revolve around shopping and going to the cinema don't they? I despair

Martin | 04.11.13 - 1:28 p.m. | #

I'm a little (ok, very...) cynical about these outlet centres now - surely there can't be enough "seconds" to shift to provide all of the various outlets with sufficient stock each?

The outlet stores near me in Munich see to go for "expensive brands you've never heard of, and still cost too much even if reduced", but I actually find Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth pretty good - a decent range of normal shops and prices that I find acceptable. I go there every now and then and spend enough that I can then generally ignore clothes shopping for another 6 months - 1 year aferwards!

It is just a shame it is 700 miles from where I live (though quite close to my parents)!

Mark | 04.11.13 - 4:24 p.m. | #

If they don't have high-end brands and it's all H&M and M&S, then it's frankly taking the piss to call it a "designer" outlet.

Karen | 04.11.13 - 10:52 p.m. | #

I'm neither a fan of shopping centres or indeed shopping generally, and can understand how some may feel this development is a lacks soul, but I can also remember the old stadium and surrounding area. Given the previous sea of carpet warehouses, fly tipping, run down industrial units and tacky market, this would seem like progress of a sort, even for those of us with zero intention of ever setting foot in the place. Also, in an age of out of town multiplexes sucking the life out of town centres, having a (roughly) in-town cinema has to be considered beneficial for the area?

The_Phil | 06.11.13 - 8:21 p.m. | #

I believe this architectural style is called Brent Crude.

Barry | 09.11.13 - 11:23 a.m. | #











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