The Galleries Shopping Centre
The Galleries was a shopping complex in the town centre of Wigan, Greater Manchester owned by Wigan Council. It is divided into three sections formed from three formerly independent schemes: The Galleries Shopping Centre, Marketgate Shopping Centre and The Makinson Arcade. The eight-acre complex features a combination of enclosed malls, walkways and open squares, and accounts for almost a quarter of the town centre's footprint. In total there is around 440,000 square feet of retail space.
The Marketgate Shopping Centre, originally called The Wigan Centre Arcade, was built 1972 in the town centre on former commercial yards and markets. It opened in 1974 and went under radical remodelling in 1988 when the adjoining Galleries Shopping Centre was constructed. The Galleries, with then 60 retail spaces, was completed 1990 and opened in 1991. The many arcades and walks in the Galleries are named after the former local authorities which now make-up the Wigan Metropolitan Borough. The Galleries was owned by Wigan Council who sold it to the private sector in 1996 for over £90 million. Both centres, though connected, were independent of one another and were only brought into joint ownership in 2002 when Prime Commercial Properties acquired both premises. In 2006, they were sold to Propinvest Limited, who subsequently also acquired the nearby Victorian Makinson Arcade, which was built in the 1890s. In October 2015, Colony Capital purchased the whole complex as part of a portfolio transaction, and commissioned the Ellandi retail group to manage the centre.
Since the opening of the Grand Arcade shopping centre in 2007, situated less than 100 yards away, a number of retailers have relocated from The Galleries to it including Boots and River Island. The complex also had big blows in 2016 when Argos and Morrisons both announced they would be closing down their shops in the centre. In late 2016, a large portion of the Marketgate Shopping Centre was sectioned off from the public due to low unit rentals. As of 2020, the majority of the 144 retail units in the complex are vacant, with only around 50 in use. Fears of continued decline, potentially leading to closure and a mothballed site, brought the complex back under public ownership by Wigan Council in March 2018, who purchased it for £8 million, using money from its Manchester Airport dividend. This was part of the Council's The Deal program which aims to revitalise the town centre. In 2019, The Fire Within Festival was held on the top floors of the Galleries in six vacant retail spaces. The festival featured art, performances and exhibitions, and was managed by the local artists AL and AL. Plans were drawn up in November 2021 to demolish the centre. In 2022, the centre was closed off to the public and demolition work commenced in November of the same year.
In 2014, outline planning approval was granted for a £60 million redevelopment of the area into the 'Makinson Quarter' and the creation, on the site, of a new shopping mall of 26 larger retail spaces. However with the complex's purchase by the council, this proposal has been scrapped, and they instead want to retain the site but revitalise it with new leisure, food and drink facilities and residential development. A formal procurement process was launched by the Council in 2020 for a partner to undertake a £125 million redevelopment of the 8-acre complex. The redevelopment is expected to take seven years.
After coming across Wheatsheaf, our hunt for these shopping centres was becoming an addiction. Gratefully, a largely-popular leisure site in the centre of a town makes the news when it closes down, and the Galleries was no different. Another 80s mall with retro features showed up with old photographs on Google, and the imminent signs that demolition was incoming led us to visit the structure quickly. There were some differences with this shopping centre than Rochdale's, mostly because it is situated alongside an active arcade with visitors constantly throughout the day. In addition, we later found that the structure houses an internal guard, who wasn't happy with our presence inside.
Once we had made it through the challenging set of importing corridors that usually surround the main halls, we were very content with the interior. Working power functioning on various vintage light fixtures, many grand areas with super natural light and other conventional mall details, also totally scarce of vandal attention, it was a real treat to wander through. The property is gigantic and I think we did miss a few bits, but nothing major, returning twice when a worker caught on to our being there the first time, and only found the guard when searching for his office after finishing exploring on the second visit. He really wasn't the happiest the second time, and calls of 'You don't know who I am' rang through the empty rear alleys as he followed us out, initially expecting us to remain with him until the police arrived. Anyway, here are some pictures. Visited with @jtza and returned with @DustySensorPhotography and Alex.
Straight into the main atrium.
A little avenue of shops that would have led to the Makinson Arcade, blocked by hoarding now.
At the top of the escalator.
Looking up at the grand atrium, working clock hanging down and many lovely details in perfect condition.
Inside an old Peacocks, converted for 'The Fire Within' festival that occupied the empty stores in 2019.
Stripped cafe.
From here, this was my favourite region of the mall. The natural light coming from the long, twisting skylight was great and this section felt a bit more vacant, lacking the construction bits and bobs in the main atrium. The hanging lights were a nice touch, as well, some of them flickering close to switching off forever. Some of the store's displays were completely intact still, and some of the sealed ones were in very good condition inside, a few decaying.
Corner point of the promenade.
Jeweller's.
Nice dated shop fronts at the end of the mall. Note the modern camera on the boarded entrance.
Here is the link to our documentary styled video filmed at the Galleries. Check it out if you would like to
Thanks for reading
The Galleries was a shopping complex in the town centre of Wigan, Greater Manchester owned by Wigan Council. It is divided into three sections formed from three formerly independent schemes: The Galleries Shopping Centre, Marketgate Shopping Centre and The Makinson Arcade. The eight-acre complex features a combination of enclosed malls, walkways and open squares, and accounts for almost a quarter of the town centre's footprint. In total there is around 440,000 square feet of retail space.
The Marketgate Shopping Centre, originally called The Wigan Centre Arcade, was built 1972 in the town centre on former commercial yards and markets. It opened in 1974 and went under radical remodelling in 1988 when the adjoining Galleries Shopping Centre was constructed. The Galleries, with then 60 retail spaces, was completed 1990 and opened in 1991. The many arcades and walks in the Galleries are named after the former local authorities which now make-up the Wigan Metropolitan Borough. The Galleries was owned by Wigan Council who sold it to the private sector in 1996 for over £90 million. Both centres, though connected, were independent of one another and were only brought into joint ownership in 2002 when Prime Commercial Properties acquired both premises. In 2006, they were sold to Propinvest Limited, who subsequently also acquired the nearby Victorian Makinson Arcade, which was built in the 1890s. In October 2015, Colony Capital purchased the whole complex as part of a portfolio transaction, and commissioned the Ellandi retail group to manage the centre.
Since the opening of the Grand Arcade shopping centre in 2007, situated less than 100 yards away, a number of retailers have relocated from The Galleries to it including Boots and River Island. The complex also had big blows in 2016 when Argos and Morrisons both announced they would be closing down their shops in the centre. In late 2016, a large portion of the Marketgate Shopping Centre was sectioned off from the public due to low unit rentals. As of 2020, the majority of the 144 retail units in the complex are vacant, with only around 50 in use. Fears of continued decline, potentially leading to closure and a mothballed site, brought the complex back under public ownership by Wigan Council in March 2018, who purchased it for £8 million, using money from its Manchester Airport dividend. This was part of the Council's The Deal program which aims to revitalise the town centre. In 2019, The Fire Within Festival was held on the top floors of the Galleries in six vacant retail spaces. The festival featured art, performances and exhibitions, and was managed by the local artists AL and AL. Plans were drawn up in November 2021 to demolish the centre. In 2022, the centre was closed off to the public and demolition work commenced in November of the same year.
In 2014, outline planning approval was granted for a £60 million redevelopment of the area into the 'Makinson Quarter' and the creation, on the site, of a new shopping mall of 26 larger retail spaces. However with the complex's purchase by the council, this proposal has been scrapped, and they instead want to retain the site but revitalise it with new leisure, food and drink facilities and residential development. A formal procurement process was launched by the Council in 2020 for a partner to undertake a £125 million redevelopment of the 8-acre complex. The redevelopment is expected to take seven years.
After coming across Wheatsheaf, our hunt for these shopping centres was becoming an addiction. Gratefully, a largely-popular leisure site in the centre of a town makes the news when it closes down, and the Galleries was no different. Another 80s mall with retro features showed up with old photographs on Google, and the imminent signs that demolition was incoming led us to visit the structure quickly. There were some differences with this shopping centre than Rochdale's, mostly because it is situated alongside an active arcade with visitors constantly throughout the day. In addition, we later found that the structure houses an internal guard, who wasn't happy with our presence inside.
Once we had made it through the challenging set of importing corridors that usually surround the main halls, we were very content with the interior. Working power functioning on various vintage light fixtures, many grand areas with super natural light and other conventional mall details, also totally scarce of vandal attention, it was a real treat to wander through. The property is gigantic and I think we did miss a few bits, but nothing major, returning twice when a worker caught on to our being there the first time, and only found the guard when searching for his office after finishing exploring on the second visit. He really wasn't the happiest the second time, and calls of 'You don't know who I am' rang through the empty rear alleys as he followed us out, initially expecting us to remain with him until the police arrived. Anyway, here are some pictures. Visited with @jtza and returned with @DustySensorPhotography and Alex.
Straight into the main atrium.
A little avenue of shops that would have led to the Makinson Arcade, blocked by hoarding now.
At the top of the escalator.
Looking up at the grand atrium, working clock hanging down and many lovely details in perfect condition.
Inside an old Peacocks, converted for 'The Fire Within' festival that occupied the empty stores in 2019.
Stripped cafe.
From here, this was my favourite region of the mall. The natural light coming from the long, twisting skylight was great and this section felt a bit more vacant, lacking the construction bits and bobs in the main atrium. The hanging lights were a nice touch, as well, some of them flickering close to switching off forever. Some of the store's displays were completely intact still, and some of the sealed ones were in very good condition inside, a few decaying.
Corner point of the promenade.
Jeweller's.
Nice dated shop fronts at the end of the mall. Note the modern camera on the boarded entrance.
Here is the link to our documentary styled video filmed at the Galleries. Check it out if you would like to
Thanks for reading
