The Ridings Centre: Difference between revisions

'''The Ridings Shopping Centre''' is an indoor [[shopping centre]] in [[Wakefield]], [[West Yorkshire]], England. It opened on 17 October 1983. The pioneering centre was a UK first and subsequently served as a template for many [[List of shopping centres in the United Kingdom |shopping centres]] throughout the UK. <ref>{{citecitation |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiXxC-eoUpA |title=The Ridings Shopping Centre Celebrates 30 Years |publisher=BBC Look North |date= 16 October 2013|accessdate=11 May 2020}}</ref>

The Ridings Centre covers an area of 319,000 sq ft and has an estimated annual footfall of 11 million.<ref>{{cite web| |url=https://www.nrr.co.uk/portfolio/properties/ridings-shopping-centre |title=The Ridings Shopping Centre |publisher=NewRiver REIT |date= |accessdate=5 May 2020}}</ref> The centre contains a number of retailers such as [[Boots (company)|Boots]], [[Marks & Spencer]], [[Morrisons]], [[Primark]] and [[TK Maxx]] as well as a number of independent stores. The Centre has 3 car parks (each assigned a colour) including 3 [[Multistorey car park|multi-storeys]] and a rooftop car park.

A five-screen [[Reel Cinemas, UK |Reel Cinema]] opened in the centre in 2019.<ref>{{cite web| |url=https://www.yorkshirebusinessdaily.co.uk/2019/08/19/new-family-friendly-reel-cinema-opens-in-wakefield-city-centre/ |title=New Family Friendly Reel Cinema Opens In Wakefield City Centre |publisher= Yorkshire Business Daily |date=19 August 2019|accessdate=9 July 2020}}</ref>

The Ridings Centre opened on 17 October 1983. It included construction of a large complex to house the upper and middle malls along with the blue and red car parks. In addition to this, an existing open shopping precinct on Kirgate originally opened in 1972 was roofed and extensively updated to become the lower mall, and the existing Almhouse Lane multi-storey was adapted to become the green car park. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://truenorthbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Ridings-Shopping-Centre.pdf |title=Ridings Shopping Centre The Heart of Shopping in Wakefield|publisher=truenorthbooks |accessdate=15 May 2020}}</ref> It was the first of its kind in the UK, containing features such as a food court inspired by malls in the [[List of shopping malls in the United States|United States]] and its major popularity upon opening meant there were queues even to enter the centre.<ref>{{cite web||url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/landmark-shopping-centre-celebrates-30-years-1854701 |title=Landmark Shopping Centre Celebrates 30 Years |publisher=Yorkshire Post |date=17 October 2013 |accessdate=1 April 2020}}</ref>

The Ridings Centre was purchased in 2015 by [[NewRiver]]. <ref>{{cite web| |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/ridings-shopping-centre-sold-newriver-1806821 |title=Ridings Shopping Centre Sold to NewRiver |publisher=Yorkshire Post |date=23 December 2015 |accessdate=20 March 2020}}</ref> This was followed by a £5 million renovation in 2017 which included a new [[food court]] and space for 'pop-up' shops.<ref>{{cite web||url=https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-04-19/details-of-5million-revamp-of-wakefield-shopping-centre-revealed/ |title=Details of £5million Revamp of Wakefield Shopping Centre Revealed |publisher=ITV News |date=19 April 2017 |accessdate= 24 March 2020}}</ref>

*The Ridings Centre won the award for 'European Shopping Centre Of The Year' on numerous occasions.<ref>{{cite web||url=https://manningstainton.co.uk/wakefield/wakefield-history |title=Wakefield History-Things You Might Not Know |publisher=ManningStainton |date= |accessdate= 8 May 2020}}</ref>