Shopping in Livingston

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Almondvale/ Livingston Designer Outlet/ The Elements


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location = Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland
address = Almondvale, Livingston Town Centre
coordinates =
opening_date = 1976
developer = Livingston Development Corporation/ Land Securities
manager =
owner = Land Securities
architect =
number_of_stores = 250
number_of_anchors = 5
floor_area =
parking = 5,000
website = http://www.shoplivingston.co.uk/
footnotes =

Livingston is a large town in Scotland located about 11 miles west of Edinburgh. The town has an excellent infrastructure in place with two railway stations (Livingston North and Livingston South), excellent bus services and roads connecting Livingston to the M8 motorway and the A71 road.

Shopping Centres

Livingston offers a unique shopping experience, with 2 major shopping centres with another under construction, and another three medium large retail parks and a cluster of small local stores located throughout the different areas.

Livingston is the fourth of Scotland’s five "new towns", and started construction in 1963. By 1970 most of the towns residential zones had been constructed. The first phase of Almondvale Shopping Centre was completed in 1976 to facilitate the needs of the local residents and workers. The first major refurbishment was completed in 1988 by Land Securities. During the refurbishment, the centre was extended by 230,000 sq. ft in 1996, creating phase 2 of the already very successful development, bringing the size of the centre to over 550,000 sq. ft.

In early 1999, construction started on phase 3 of the development with the construction of McArther Glen Designer Outlet Centre, (now renamed to Livingston Designer Outlet in 2007) and was opened three months behind schedule in October 2000, with other work continuing into 2001. During this time, ASDA Wal Mart constructed a new supercenter behind Almondvale Shopping Center. This supercenter is the largest of its kind in Europe. This brand new development opened up over 80 new shops, 20 bars and restaurants, a fitness Suite, 4000 new car parking spaces and an 8 screen 'Circuit Cinema' cinema complex.(Re-named in 2005 to VUE) In early 2007, another 15 shops were constructed within the centre replacing the "At home" area. Many businesses within this unit never re-opened in a new single unit.

Phase 4 of the Almondvale development started in March 2007, which removed the Safeway supermarket and its car park. Also, between the Livingston Designer Outlet and Almondvale Centre, the car park was removed to make way for The Elements, a groundbreaking shopping center costing £135,000,000. The Elements will bring 35 brand new shops, with Marks & Spencer and Debenhams as anchor stores. Within this development, there will be socialising areas, rooftop bars restaurants and a Winter Garden, bringing the Almondvale Centre Development to over a million sq. ft. The old Safeway carpark has been developed into a new 3 story car park providing another free 1500 spaces. The Elements is due to open in October 2008.

Shops

Livingston now has over 200 different retail units within Almondvale, including Next, Marks & Spencers, ASDA, McDonalds, BHS, Game, HMV, Sony Centre, Shop @ Panasonic, Argos, Thorntons and Pizza Hut. (A list of all shops will be displayed soon).