THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL, OUT-OF-TOWN RETAIL CENTERS - THE CASE OF THE METRO CENTER

The Metro Shopping Centre is the first of a new wave of regional scale out-of-town developments in the U.K. This paper reports on an unusual longitudinal study of the development and impact of this shopping cen tre. Given the Centre's vast size and its apparently direct competitiv e role with the traditional city centre of Newcastle, the study focuse s on questions of trading deflections from other centres, and its effe ct on the retail structure of the region. This study gives evidence of actual change in the north east of England from 1986 to 1991. Results are given of a series of large scale and repeated surveys of consumer s, pedestrians, retailers and shop land use. The new Centre draws cust omers over long distances and in large numbers. It does not compete on ly with the traditional city centre nearby. The shifts in shopping pat terns identified after the opening of the Metro Centre were part of a more general movement to shop by car and to shop more in larger or mor e specialised centres. Impact has been widespread, but other shopping centres have not been evenly affected. Smaller retailers, weaker centr es and the weaker parts of some centres have suffered most. The new Ce ntre employs large numbers, though part time jobs have increased much faster than full time ones and total numbers are rather less than thos e suggested in planning for other, similar centres. Some tentative con clusions are given about off-setting job losses elsewhere. It is concl uded that the development of a large 'green field' shopping centre has tened processes of change in the traditional shopping centres of the r egion but was not the only cause of them. The impact of the new develo pment was cushioned by substantial growth in retail sales through most of the 1980s. A process of polarisation is identified, with the new C entre attracting more mobile, more prosperous customers and traditiona l large centres the converse. The implications of such a process are c onsidered.