Few people know how to shop like us folk from the North-East.
No wonder the region can boast three of the top 10 retail locations in the country - Eldon Square, the MetroCentre, and Northumberland Street in Newcastle.
And Eldon Square - opened nearly 20 years ago - is about to get that much bigger and better, with the start of work on a £150m revitalisation.
When it opened in 1976, Eldon Square Shopping Centre was one of the first examples of mixed-use city centre regeneration.
A focal point for shopping in the city centre, its incorporation of retail outlets, offices, flats and a major leisure centre proved to be very successful and popular combination.
The revitalisation and partial redevelopment of the shopping centre and some of its facilities are now taking shape and the project will transform Eldon Square, providing a more vibrant and accessible shopping destination for the 25 million customers who visit each year.
The plan is to extend the range of shops and to provide two new malls - offering the opportunity for even more high street names - plus a modern replacement bus station and the regeneration of Old Eldon Square.
Work will start in the summer on the 22,000sq ft first phase of the development to provide seven prime retail units on Blackett Bridge, one of the Centre's busy malls and a key pedestrian route across the city. Two new restaurants at ground level fronting onto Old Eldon Square, will provide an opportunity for alfresco eating, together with a new Greenmarket and a new bus station by 2009.
100 Great Reasons... 1. Three North East teams in the Premiership - now Sunderland are back where they belong. 13. Jill Halfpenny, the Gateshead girl turned star of stage and screen - back home this summer at Live Theatre. 30. Tea in the Tree Tops Cafe at The Alnwick Garden. 43. Grey's Monument, commemorating the first steps towards modern democracy and at 135ft, up there with Nelson's Column. Click here to view all 100 Great Reasons
Brian Aitken, Editor, The Journal There are far more than 100 reasons why its great up North - that much is clear. We first published our supplement, 100 Reasons Why Its Great Up North, last September, listing some of the many things that make the North-East a great place to live, work, and just enjoy life a little. read more...
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100 Great Reasons...
Brian Aitken, Editor, The Journal