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FEATURE: COMMERCIALISATION
When one door
it was the most successful of the three,” says marketing manager Rachael Lockitt, who works specifically on the UK’s first Legoland Discovery Centre.
When choosing a location, the brief – “a key city centre mall location where retail and leisure work well together” – led the team to The Trafford Centre. With a wide range of shops and leisure activities, free parking and numerous transport links to Manchester city centre, it ticked all the right boxes. “We’ve been working with The Trafford Centre since early 2009,”
T
he first Legoland Discovery Centre opened in Berlin in 2007, with another two following in Duisberg and Chicago in 2008. “Chicago was the first to be based in a shopping centre, and
CLOSES...
SHOPPING CENTRE April 2010 www.shopping-centre.co.uk
Vacancy levels remain stubbornly high among UK shopping centres. But for those specialising in promotional space, empty shops mark a plethora of opportunity
says Neil Crittenden, general manager of Manchester’s Legoland Discovery Centre which opened on March 22. “There were a lot of places to choose from, but we wanted one that would work for us and for the shopping centre.” The Trafford Centre is a destination in its own right, with outdoor leisure activities and a hotel nearby. And it had one more vital attribute: 37,500 sq ft going spare. The
adjoining Barton Square opened in 2008 and was originally reserved for homeware brands like Next Home, Habitat and Mark & Spencer Home. As with any retail park, an empty unit leaves a lot of space to fill. Luckily, the Legoland Discovery Centre stepped in to broaden Barton Square’s offering and occupy some vacant space. “Since it opened, Barton Square has been strictly a purchase
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