As Glasgow’s first modern shopping mall it has welcomed customers for twenty years.

But the St Enoch Centre has this week unveiled a new look and some new names.

Eight new stores have opened as a £100 million extension was finally completed yesterday after 18 months of hard work.

The new ground floor mall, which is accessed via an eye-catching ‘glass box’ entrance on the corner of Argyle Street and St Enoch Square boasts big high street names as well as independent traders.

International fashion store H&M sits close by Costa Coffee as well as trendy clothes store Henleys.

New names Cake Clothing, music-inspired retailer Pulp and Formula One shop Wheels of Sport are also welcoming customers, plus the finishing touches are being put to kids’ store Jessica Boo Upmarket jewellery and accessories store Folli Follie will open on December 12 and watch retailer Swatch and the Lambretti store are also set to move in.

Bosses are now looking to the next part of phase one of the centre’s makeover -- filling stores on the first floor of the new extension -- which as reported yesterday in the Evening Times is where you’ll find famous toy store Hamleys.

When full the extension will add a further 40 new stores to mall’s existing 60 outlets.

General manager Susan Nicol said: “It’s been a very intense 18 months but we think it’s an absolutely wonderful development.

“It’s always a challenge building in city centres but we love the architecture.

 

It’s difficult to tell at the beginning when you see the drawings whether you are going to love it or hate it, but overall I think it’s a really impressive building.

“It’s incredibly different and that’s what we’ve aimed to do. It’s a tremendous change for Glasgow -- I hope the shoppers embrace it -- I believe they will.”

The new and old areas of the mall have been linked by new decoration and floor tiles which run through the entire centre.

Another new arrival heading for the mall is Portuguese-themed chicken restaurant Nandos, which has signed up to open in the next phase which will see the St Enoch Square entrance and the food court redeveloped.

Mall bosses also hope to install a massive outdoor screen in St Enoch Square to show big events.

It is hoped it could be ready by the summer.

Around 700 new jobs have been created by the extension. Mall bosses teamed up with Glasgow Works, JobCentre Plus and Skills Development Scotland in an initiative called St Enoch Working to find the best staff.

The centre already has around 2500 staff.

In the long term bosses will also extend on BhS side of the building and want to add a cinema.

Susan said: “We are still looking at what we should be doing and where we should be doing it.”

And to mark the opening of the first phase, just in time for Christmas, it will snow every hour on the hour in the ‘glass box’ entrance to the mall.

sarah.swain@

eveningtimes.co.uk