LAKESIDE SHOPPING CENTRE

The 'Lakeside Shopping Centre' is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It opened on October 25, 1990.
The shopping centre, in addition to the retail parks, forms one of the largest shopping areas in a single location within Europe, with almost of retail space on a site of 200 acres. The community of Chafford Hundred has grown to the east of the centre since its opening.

Contents

Main shopping centre

Transport connections

Shops

New developments

Retail parks

Docusoap

External links

Main shopping centre

The shopping centre is one of the largest in Europe with 123,644 m² (1,330,936 ft²) available as retail floorspace although the MetroCentre in Gateshead, after its expansion in 2004, is larger. There are 311 shops, of which there are 3 department stores, 33 cafes and restaurants and a 26 acre lake named Alexandra Lake with a PADI certified diving school complex. Lakeside has on average 500,000 visitors per week.
It is currently open on weekdays from 10 am to 10 pm, Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. The centre's car parks have capacity for 13,000 cars.

Transport connections

The centre has a direct link to Chafford Hundred railway station and is connected to the M25 motorway which is London's outermost ring road. It is connected to the London Bus network by London Buses route 372 with other operators also providing bus services to the centre.

Shops

Shops at Lakeside Shopping Centre include:

★ Accessorize

★ American Express

★ Ann Harvey

★ Ann Summers

★ Argos

★ Artbase

★ Ben Sherman

★ Blue Inc

★ The Body Shop

★ Boots the Chemist

★ Burger King

★ Burton

★ Clinton Cards

★ Debenhams

★ Disney Store

★ Currys Digital

★ F. Hinds

★ GAME

★ Gap

★ Hotel Chocolat

★ House of Fraser

★ HMV

★ Jessops

★ KFC

★ La Tasca

★ Lacoste

★ Lillywhites

★ Marks and Spencer

★ McDonald's

★ Next

★ Nokia

★ Old Orleans

★ Orange SA

★ Pizza Hut

★ Pret a Manger

★ Primark

★ Punky Fish

★ Quiznos Sub

★ River Island

★ Sports World

★ sony centre

★ Starbucks

★ Thorntons

★ Tie Rack

★ Virgin Mobile

★ Vue

★ W H Smith

★ Wagamama

★ Wallis

★ Walls Swirl it

★ Warehouse

★ Warren James

★ Waterstones

★ Well Heeled

★ West Ham United Sportswear

★ West One

★ Whittard

★ Wimpy

★ Woolworths

★ Zara

New developments

'The Boardwalk' under construction in early September 2006, showing the new bridge to the main shopping centre and the old 'Lakeside Pavilion' building.

Construction on the new decking for 'The Boardwalk'.

'The Boardwalk' nearing completion in early June 2007.

'The Boardwalk' on opening day - 14 June 2007.

To ensure the centre maintains its competition with the newer (and what is perceived by some as more 'upmarket') Bluewater shopping centre, which lies just over the Thames in Greenhithe, Lakeside has recently undergone major refurbishment at a cost of £30 million. This included new italian porcelain flooring, new lighting, a new ceiling and new glass roofs which allow much more natural light into the shopping centre. There are now also new, faster elevators, and 4 more escalators along with automatic entrance doors. A non-smoking policy across the whole shopping centre was also introduced in January 2004. The refurbishment has also encouraged refitting of many shops so that they complement the new surroundings. In September 2005, Next opened an . extension to their store.
The Lakeside Pavilion was an area adjoined to the main shopping centre via a covered bridge - this area had a 'market' feel to it, with various stalls selling novelty gifts, paintings and collector items adjacent to a small food court. By the beginning of 2006 this had been closed and partly removed for the construction of a new entertainment area named ‘The Boardwalk’.
Re-opened on Thursday June 14, 2007, The Boardwalk provides an additional . of retail space for 10 new restaurants along with more retail and leisure space, as well as a 10 metre boardwalk, offering external seating which overlooks Alexandra Lake. The newly refurbished Old Orleans bar and restaurant was open on the same day, with new features including a rooftop bar.
Vue cinema formed part of the old Lakeside Pavilion, with a 7 screen cinema. This closed on 11 January 2007 to be refurbished, and was re-opened on Friday June 15, 2007; the refurbishment resulted in 9 state of the art screens with stadium seating, including a premium "Gold Class" screen housing luxury reclinable armchair-style seating, and a special screen that would show major sporting, music and gaming events as well as key films. This 'Evolution Screen', with a combination of giant beanbags and sofas, is the first of its kind in the UK.
Other units at The Boardwalk are:

★ Bella Italia

★ Cafe Rouge

★ Giraffe

★ Gourmet Burger Kitchen

★ Hannah Banana

★ La Tasca

★ Nandos

★ Spur Steak & Grill

★ Strada

★ Wagamama
In May 2007, Apple announced that it will build its tenth UK store at Lakeside Shopping Centre.

Retail parks

There are also two retail parks nearby called the Lakeside Retail Park and The Junction. Lakeside Retail Park has a number of stores such as:

★ Argos

★ Blacks

★ Borders

★ Currys

★ Going Places

★ Habitat

★ Harveys

★ IKEA

★ ILVA

★ JJB Sports

★ Maplin Electronics

★ Matalan

★ Mothercare

★ Next home

★ Next Clearance

★ PC World

★ SCS

★ Toys "R" Us
The Junction has shops such as:

★ American Golf Discount

★ Asda Living a non-food Asda store

★ Comet

★ Decathlon Sports

★ Halfords

★ Natuzzo

★ Odeon Cinema

★ TK Maxx

★ M&S Outlet

★ Caffe Ritazza located inside Asda Living

Docusoap

In 1998, '''Lakesiders''' was a BBC docusoap narrated by Pauline Quirke following the activities of management, shopkeepers and staff of the shopping centre. The fractious working relationship between Essex FM's breakfast show DJ Martin Day and his boss Paul Chantler also featured. The theme music was by Simon May.
A new series, Return to Lakesiders, has been filmed by the BBC and is scheduled to be broadcast on BBC Two just before Christmas 2007.

External links

★ Official site

★ Full list of shops in the Retail Park