New era for shopping at The Centre

Oct 23 2008 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

New era for shopping at The Centre

SHOPPERS in Livingston queued up to visit the town’s newest shopping attraction last week.

Elements Square opened its doors to the public for the first time on Thursday and welcomed the hundreds of people who had waited outside for the big moment.

Visitors were greeted by Chinese lion dancers who performed a traditional good luck ceremony and stylists helped shoppers find the perfect autumn outfits and gave make up tips.

Elements Square brings The Centre, formerly Almondvale Centre, to almost one million square feet in size.

And its opening saw new high street attractions including, H&M and Waterstones, and department stores M&S and Debenhams, set up shop in the town for the first time bringing a new dimension for shoppers in the county and beyond.

Elements Square has helped create over 1500 new jobs and Alison Niven, centre director for Livingston, said she is sure the development will prove to be a big success in the town.

She said: “I'm delighted to finally open the doors and bring a completely new shopping and dining experience to the town.

“However, nothing can give a better seal of approval than comments received directly from the public and I'm overwhelmed by the positive feedback already received.

“I look forward to shoppers enjoying even more of what The Centre has to offer in the coming weeks.”

Among the other stores which opened on Thursday were River Island, Jane Norman, Republic and Swarovski, as well as eateries ASK and Chiquito.

Further stores including Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Next, Warehouse and restaurant Tony Roma's which are

opening in the coming months.

The Wintergarden, which is on the first floor of the development and is one of the catering areas at the new centre, is also set to open soon.

Elements Square has been designed with double height glass shop fronts, terracotta and zinc walls and granite flooring – materials traditionally used in outdoor developments – to help give the feeling of shopping on the high street indoors.

The roof has been created using the same plastic material as used in The Eden Project.

The opening of the centre has been welcomed by West Lothian Council which hopes the development will attract more visitors to the town.

Councillor Martyn Day, executive councillor for development and transport, said: “The opening of the new Elements Square at Livingston is a major boost for West Lothian.

“This modern, attractive new development is a important addition to Livingston's successful shopping centre and the creation of 1500 jobs is most welcome.

"I am sure Elements Square will prove extremely popular with local shoppers and it will attract people from all over Scotland to West Lothian.”