St Johns Shopping Centre

St Johns Shopping Centre is the largest covered shopping centre in the city of Liverpool, located in the heart of the city since 1969 and home to more than 100 retailers. The precinct is also home to St Johns Market which has a history dating back to 1822, although the current market was opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II in April 1971.[5]

For the shopping centre in Leeds, see St John's Centre.

St Johns Shopping Centre
Newly refurbished Houghton Street entrance
LocationLiverpool, England
Coordinates53.407°N 2.981°W / 53.407; -2.981
AddressSt George's Place, Liverpool L1 1LY
Opening date1969 (1969)[1]
ManagementNeil Ashcroft
OwnerInfraRed[2]
ArchitectJames A. Roberts[3]
No. of stores and services105
Total retail floor area360,002 sq ft (33,445.3 m2)[4]
No. of floors4
Parking621[4]
Public transit accessLiverpool Lime Street
Websitestjohns-shopping.co.uk

All businesses located in St Johns Shopping Centre are members of City Central, a Business Improvement District (BID) representing approximately 630 businesses in the retail and leisure heart of Liverpool city centre.[6]

History

One of the first fully enclosed, roofed market halls St Johns Market opened to the public in 1822. It was the largest in the nineteenth century. It was designed by John Foster, Junior with "136 stone-trimmed classical arched window bays, supported by 116 interior cast-iron pillars".[7] In 1964 it was demolished.

Shopping Centre

St Johns Shopping Centre, which was designed by architect James A. Roberts, opened in 1969.

A subway with direct access to Lime Street station was open before being boarded up some years later.[8] There were two major fires in the Centre, on 26 September 1977 and 17/18 December 1979.[9]

Considerations were made by Liverpool City Council in relation to a possible relocation of the shopping market as part of a larger redevelopment proposal for the centre. Land Securities, the then owner of the shopping centre, was aiming to start the refurbishment in early 2009 with the market moving in 2010 if the proposals went ahead.[1][10]

In March 2013, St Johns shopping centre was acquired by InfraRed Capital Partners for £76.5 million.[11]

Work started in July 2013 to completely refurbish and renovate the food court. The £1.6 million refurbishment, which was carried out by Graham Interior Fitout,[12] dramatically modernised the lower-ground area as well as the atria around the escalators and the first floor balustrading. Work took until November 2013 to complete.[13]

In June 2016, St Johns Market closed for a £2 million refurbishment. Following the completion of the refurbishment, the market is now spread over two floors around a central atrium with a number of enhancements, such as the installation of WiFi and new public toilets.[14] The refurbishment has also seen an increase in the number of stalls in the market from 90 to approximately 120.[15] The market reopened after the completion of the refurbishment on 25 November 2016.[16]

St Johns Beacon

St Johns Beacon now known as the Radio City Tower is located on the same foundations as the shopping centre and constructed with the centre as a ventilation shaft for the markets incinerator. Between 1971-1983 the beacon housed a revolving restaurant which Queen Elizabeth II opened in 1971. In 2000 it became the Radio City Tower and now houses the studios and offices for Radio City and Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool, North West & North Wales. Radio City's output plays inside the shopping centre.

Stores

Retail tenants at St Johns include Aldi, Argos, Home Bargains, Iceland, Matalan, Poundland, Sainsbury's and Wilko.

Food and drink outlets at St Johns include KFC, McDonald's and Subway. There is also a branch of Wetherspoons, The Fall Well, which was previously a pet shop.

St Johns Shopping Centre is also home to one of Liverpool's largest group of independent retailers, ranging from baby clothing to beauty outlets.

References
  1. St John's Market to move as part of a revamp Liverpool Echo, 15 November 2007
  2. Liverpool Echo, 22 March 2012
  3. "Could St Johns precinct look like this?". Liverpool Condifential. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  4. St Johns – home
  5. St Johns Market Archived 2 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "City Central BID Area". City Central BID. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  7. "Artwork details, Liverpool museums". www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.
  8. "Lime street Subway ( Now Gone forever)". 25 February 2008.
  9. "St. John's Market, Liverpool". Delta 64. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  10. Shopping centre refurbishment Liverpool F.C..gov.uk, 15 November 2007
  11. "St John's shopping centre sold for £76.5m". Liverpool Echo. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  12. "Graham Interior Fitout to refurbish Liverpool's St Johns Shopping Centre". Design Crurial. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  13. "St Johns Food Court Refubishment". Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  14. "This is how St John's market looked on the day it closed for a £2m refurbishment". Liverpool Echo. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  15. "Liverpool's St John's Market gets re-opening date". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  16. "Official opening of St John's Market". Liverpool Echo. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
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