Out of Town Retailing Case Study: The
Trafford Centre
Background information
Opened on the 10th September 1998
It is the 6th largest shopping centre in the UK
Nearly 5.5 million people (10% of the UK's
population) live within 45 of the centre
The planning process was one of the longest
ans most expensive in the UK
Construction took 27 months costing approximately
£600 million, approximately £750 million as £750 million
as of 2012
Retail
In 2005, 29.4 million people visited the centre
Average footfall of around 35 million a year
280 shops and services
Europe's largest food court - 1,600 seats with 60
restaurants, cafes and bars
18-lane ten pin bowling ally
Laser Quest arena
20 screen cinema - UK's biggest cinema
with 28,500 visitors a year
Over 11,500 car parking spaces
Retail: 185,000m2
Leisure: 16,258m2
Dining:13,935m2
It is indoors and air conditioned to protect customers all year round
It has long opening hours - Shops are open until 10pm Monday
to Friday, 8pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday
Future Expansion
Immediate plans include constructing a
roof over Barton Square and expanding
the John Lewis ans Marks & Spencer
shops
Long-term plans include expanding Barton
retail space, building retain areas on unused
land and attracting retailers that currently
don't have a presence such as Primark
CSC applied for planning application to increase
retail space on the 3rd floor in Barton Square
from 18,500m2 to 28,966m2 in September 2011
which would increase the Trafford Centre's retail
size to approximately 195,00m2
Transport
Situated off the M60
Over 350 coach parking spaces
Numerous bus routes that go
direct from Manchester to the
Trafford Centre
The Trafford Centre encourages visitors to use public
transport to reduce congestion and to be more
environmentally friendly
Future Transport
A Manchester Metrolink line and station could be
constructed in the near future. Metrolink and the local
authorities have declared that the link must be at least in
part privately funded by developers.
Planning permission was granted for the construction of a 600 meter
(2,000 ft) canal linking the Trafford Centre with the Manchester Ship Canal
in 2006, allowing the introduction of a water taxi service to and from
Salford Quays
Impacts of the Trafford Centre
Positive impacts
The Trafford Centre supports local community
projects and charities for example the Royal
Manchester Children's Hospital, through funding
donations
The centre provides work experience for
local school students studying retail
business
8,000 people are employed there and they
also receive benefits such as health care
and childcare vouchers
The Trafford Centre is growing, so that it offers a wider
range of services, which attracts a more customers and
bring more economic benefits like jobs. For example,
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre opened in 2010
Negative Impacts
Most visitors drive to the centre, this causes
more congestion and air pollution, particularly
at busy periods such as Christmas.
The Trafford Centre has had an impact on shpping in surrounding towns. Fewer
people go to these town centres to shop or for leisure activities because they cannot
compete with the advantages offered by the Trafford Centre (eg: free car parking
spaces). Altrincham, a local market town in Trafford suffered particularly badly, 37%
of shops were vacant in 2010 (nearly 3 times the national average of 13%)
All of the outlets are chain stores which are too expensive for local
or independent businesses to rent