Shopping in city center of Leicester

Like all towns Leicester had a big centre that is very easy to find and get around. Make sure where the clock tower is, because anyone you ask for directions will refer to it.

In 2008 Leicester was positioned thirteenth in the retail shopping league of England (CACI Retail Footprint 2008).

There are two main shopping centres in Leicester - the Haymarket Centre and Highcross Leicester. The Haymarket Centre was opened on the site in 1974, and was the first to be built in the City, with parking for up to 500 cars on several levels, two levels of shopping with bus station, and was also the site of the former Haymarket Theatre. 

Highcross Leicester opened in 2008 after work to redevelop "The Shires Centre" was completed at a cost of £350 million (creating 120 stores, 15 restaurants, a cinema, 110,000 m2 of shopping space). 

Smaller shopping centres are St Martin's Square and the Silver Arcade. The Leicester Lanes area has numerous designer and specialist shops. Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered market in Europe selling a wide variety of goods. The Golden Mile is the name given to a stretch of Belgrave Road renowned for its authentic Indian restaurants, sari shops, and jewellers, The Diwali celebrations in Leicester are focused on this area and are the largest outside India.

Leicester has a number of department stores including Fenwick, House of Fraser, John Lewis, and Debenhams.

LEICESTER MARKET

In last year 2009, Leicester market crowned ‘ Britian’s Favourite Market 2009’ in Nabma awarded public vote. And here has a short fantastic film made by local film-maker Nick Hamer, which describes Leicester market.

 
http://vimeo.com/17347853

Leicester Market is a large market in The City of Leicester, England. It is the largest outdoor covered market in Europe.

It is around 800 years old but was moved to the current site around 700 years ago. The market is protected by a Royal Charter that goes back to its origin over 700 years ago. This prohibits other markets from operating within a specified distance (6 2/3 miles) of the Leicester market. In recent years the City Council which holds the Royal Charter has begun to allow some other markets within the City.

 Leicester market has over 270 stalls. It sells a wide variety of goods, particularly fruit and vegetables, but also flowers, clothes, second-hand-books, bric-a-brac and jewellery. It also has a number of permanent units, containing clothes, cosmetics, fabrics, greetings cards, a cafe and pet products.

The indoor market (1973) is a multi-level building containing the fish market and delicatessen, as well as stalls selling clothes, haberdashery, footwear, jewellery, gemstones, and confectionery.

In the centre of the market stands the Leicester Corn Exchange (1850), originally built as a trading centre, but now serving as a bar/restaurant. A statue of John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland stands close to the Corn Exchange.

There is also a monthly Farmers Market held on the last Wednesday of every month, specializing in locally-produced organic meat, fruit and vegetables.

If you shopped in here, you will save much money. Since the low price of many goods in Leicester market. Therefore, International students love this market like the local residents.
Location: 9 Market Pl S, Leicester

Opening time:

Outdoor Market

Monday   7am to 6pm

Tuesday   7am to 6pm

Wednesday      7am to 6pm

Thursday 7am to 6pm

Friday       7am to 6pm

Saturday  7am to 6pm

Sunday     Closed

Indoor Market

Monday   Closed

Tuesday   8am to 5pm

Wednesday      8am to 5pm

Thursday 8am to 5pm

Friday       8am to 5pm

Saturday  8am to 5pm

Sunday     Closed

Website: http://www.leicestermarket.co.uk/

Highcross

Highcross offers an awe-inspiring mix of fashionable stores, stylish restaurants and true city centre living that has reinvented Leicester and changed the perception of the city.

Since opening in September 2008, Highcross has become Leicester's biggest and most successful re-development, home to an unrivalled selection of inspiring retailers, 13 delicious cafes and restaurants and a 12 screen Cinema de Lux.

If you are searching for a one stop shopping experience, then look no further. Highcross has three major department stores: Debenhams, House of Fraser and an iconic, flagship John Lewis, all spread over external street spaces and a spectacular covered mall.

 With more than 120 stores filled with 1000's of gift ideas. Other new tenants include designer fashion brands G-star, Lacoste, Hugo Boss and Zara, and there is also an Apple Store. The extension makes Highcross Leicester the largest shopping centre in the East Midlands.

 
The multiplex cinema and John Lewis parts of the centre mark the UK début of architecture firm Foreign Office Architects. The cinema is covered in a slightly buckled, stainless steel cladding, while the department store features two layers of glass, each with a swirling fabric design from John Lewis's archives, allowing light in and a view out, but obscuring the interior from the outside. The use of a fabric pattern recognises Leicester's past as a textile-producing city.
An open day was held on Sunday, 1 June 2008 to show the people around the new development. More than a thousand people attended. The newly extended and refurbished shopping centre opened to the public on 4 September 2008 with over 125,000 visitors and over a million visitors in its first two weeks.

Opening time:

Highcross is open late every weeknight until 8pm.

Centre opening times
Monday to Friday 9.30am – 8pm
Saturday 9am – 7pm
Sunday 11am – 5pm
Bank Holidays 10am – 6pm

Festive shopping hours
From 29 November until 23 December, you can enjoy extended opening hours at Highcross

Monday to Friday 9am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm
Christmas Eve 9am - 5pm
Christmas Day Closed
Boxing Day* 10am - 6pm

Website: www.highcrossleicester.com

Fenwick in leicester

The Fenwick store in Leicester is in a most interesting confection of a building on the corner of Belvoir Street and Market Street.

It was originally built as Joseph Johnson’s department store, and the shop girls had rooms in the top storey.

Most of the store was built in 1880, but the most notable feature, the corner where there is a heavy wooden overhang, dates from 1884.

The architect was Isaac Barradale, a notable architect of Victorian Leicester. It was Barradale to whom Ernest Gimson, nationally-known architect and furniture maker, was articled.

The building on the other corner of Belvoir Street and Market Street was also designed by Barradale. It was built as a hotel.

Opening time:

Monday      9.00am – 5.30pm

Tuesday      9.00am – 5.30pm

Wednesday   9.00am – 7.00pm

Thursday     9.00am – 5.30pm

Friday       9.00am – 5.30pm

Saturday     9.00am – 6.00pm

Sunday       Closed

Address:
Market Street
Leicester LE1 6DE

TEL: 0116 255 3322

Website: http://www.fenwick.co.uk/stores/leicester