I mentioned before that an American friend of mine visited us recently, and one thing that she and I love to do is SHOP. Before you judge, you should know that I am VERY good at going through an entire shop without purchasing anything, even when I have twenty quid or so burning a proverbial hole.
I have a few favourite stores that I hit when I need retail therapy. Next, Monsoon, Clarks, the ever popular Marks & Spencer and others are regular stops on my Trail of Retail Discovery. However, today I want to focus on two Must Sees if you’re visiting the northern part of the UK and would like to do a bit of shopping: Junction 32 in West Yorkshire and The Trafford Centre in Manchester. This is not your charming outdoor market or Saturday church guild craft fair. This is SERIOUS shopping.
Junction 32 (formerly Freeport Castleford) is an outlet mall on a grand scale. It’s referred to as a “village” 
and with good reason. I’m basing comparison on the giant outlet centres I’m familiar with from the US, like the Tanger Outlets in Commerce, Georgia, or the “Yellow Mall” Prime Outlets in Gaffney, South Carolina. These centres of discounted goodness have nothing on Junction 32.
Got kids that don’t want to shop? Right next door to Junction 32 is Xscape, which is a playground complete with a cinema, climbing wall, indoor snow slope, laser tag, and other goodies to keep the rest of the family occupied. Driving to Junction 32? There is plenty of parking, though it isn’t really the front door type parking we’re used to in the US. No car? No problem. We took the train in (head for the Glasshoughton railway station) and just had a short walk across the car parks to get to the shopping. The only problem I could forsee with taking the train is managing the on and off with lots of bags of shopping.
Now then, let’s leave the discounts behind and move toward luxury shopping. 
The Trafford Centre in Manchester is luxurious and lovely, and rather looks like a palace on the inside rather than a mall. While not as easily accessed as Junction 32 via train, there is a bus station AT the shopping centre, so you can get there from here if you can read and understand a bus map. You can even get a bus that runs between Manchester Airport and the Trafford Centre (number 18) so that you can load up on those last minute must-haves just before you fly home.
My favourite bit about the Trafford Centre is hard to pick, but I think it might be Selfridges. 
Why, you may ask? They stock a fairly good (although overpriced) selection of AMERICAN FOOD. I’m talking Kraft Mac & Cheese, Quaker Instant Grits, and even Goober Grape.
Also, just inside the door is a great sushi place (as great as sushi can be when you’re talking about a restaurant in a shopping mall) called Yo!Sushi. It’s sushi done as fast food at a counter, complete with a conveyor belt that moves the food alongside your diner style booth or lunch counter seats.
A draw, I’m sure, for families to the Trafford Centre is the Legoland Discovery Centre, boasting over two million lego bricks and fun for kids of all ages. I know that my niece very much enjoys Legoland down south, so I’m anxious to get back to Manchester to check this one out. You know, for blogging destination purposes.
So, planning a shopping holiday to the UK (regardless of the current exchange rate NOT being in the US’s favour)? Be sure to include these two commerical meccas on your agenda.
Shopping Anyone? Junction 32 and Trafford Centre
I mentioned before that an American friend of mine visited us recently, and one thing that she and I love to do is SHOP. Before you judge, you should know that I am VERY good at going through an entire shop without purchasing anything, even when I have twenty quid or so burning a proverbial hole.
I have a few favourite stores that I hit when I need retail therapy. Next, Monsoon, Clarks, the ever popular Marks & Spencer and others are regular stops on my Trail of Retail Discovery. However, today I want to focus on two Must Sees if you’re visiting the northern part of the UK and would like to do a bit of shopping: Junction 32 in West Yorkshire and The Trafford Centre in Manchester. This is not your charming outdoor market or Saturday church guild craft fair. This is SERIOUS shopping.
Junction 32 (formerly Freeport Castleford) is an outlet mall on a grand scale. It’s referred to as a “village”
and with good reason. I’m basing comparison on the giant outlet centres I’m familiar with from the US, like the Tanger Outlets in Commerce, Georgia, or the “Yellow Mall” Prime Outlets in Gaffney, South Carolina. These centres of discounted goodness have nothing on Junction 32.
Got kids that don’t want to shop? Right next door to Junction 32 is Xscape, which is a playground complete with a cinema, climbing wall, indoor snow slope, laser tag, and other goodies to keep the rest of the family occupied. Driving to Junction 32? There is plenty of parking, though it isn’t really the front door type parking we’re used to in the US. No car? No problem. We took the train in (head for the Glasshoughton railway station) and just had a short walk across the car parks to get to the shopping. The only problem I could forsee with taking the train is managing the on and off with lots of bags of shopping.
Now then, let’s leave the discounts behind and move toward luxury shopping.
The Trafford Centre in Manchester is luxurious and lovely, and rather looks like a palace on the inside rather than a mall. While not as easily accessed as Junction 32 via train, there is a bus station AT the shopping centre, so you can get there from here if you can read and understand a bus map. You can even get a bus that runs between Manchester Airport and the Trafford Centre (number 18) so that you can load up on those last minute must-haves just before you fly home.
My favourite bit about the Trafford Centre is hard to pick, but I think it might be Selfridges.
Why, you may ask? They stock a fairly good (although overpriced) selection of AMERICAN FOOD. I’m talking Kraft Mac & Cheese, Quaker Instant Grits, and even Goober Grape.
A draw, I’m sure, for families to the Trafford Centre is the Legoland Discovery Centre, boasting over two million lego bricks and fun for kids of all ages. I know that my niece very much enjoys Legoland down south, so I’m anxious to get back to Manchester to check this one out. You know, for blogging destination purposes.
So, planning a shopping holiday to the UK (regardless of the current exchange rate NOT being in the US’s favour)? Be sure to include these two commerical meccas on your agenda.