Metquarter - the message is… Are You Watching Manchester?
As City’s £75m Metquarter shops mecca opens its doors, the message is... Are You Watching Manchester?
Fashion-conscious shoppers were raring to splash their cash at Liverpool’s new shopping arcade today. The £75m Metquarter shopping development opened its doors to the public for the first time this morning, with 13 retailers ready for business.
The Whitechapel centre boasts names including Armani, Prada, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, while upmarket make-up brand MAC has opened its only store outside London. Hobbs, Gieves & Hawkes, Whistles and Molton Brown are among others to have signed up. It means label-loving shoppers will no longer have to travel to Manchester of Leeds to pick up coveted names in the fashion world. Together with Grosvenor’s £920m scheme, it will turn Liverpool into one of Britain’s premier shopping destinations.
More than a dozen stores in the tree story arcaded Metquarter, built on the site of Liverpool’s old Post Office, officially opened today. Another 15 are expected to be open for business over the spring and the rest by September. The mass also boasts original art-works, including Europe’s longest sculpture, designed by Turner Prize contender Mel Chantrey. Developer John Milligan said: “We’ve taken a dormant building and used the design skills of the Milligan team to develop it into a retail site of which Liverpool can be very proud.”
The Post office, built in the 1890s, was bombed during World Was II. Milligan bought a 999-year lease from owners the Walton group. It is a successful regeneration of a building which was on the ECHO’s original Stop the Rot hitlist.
Editor Alastair Machray said today: “The Metquarter is a great symbol of what can be achieved when people think beyond convention. It’s a special day in Liverpool.” Initially, the Metquarter will open from 10am-6pm on weekdays, 9am-6pm on Saturdays, and 11am-5pm on Sundays. By Catherine Jones Culture Reporter