Me and my family moved to Milton Keynes to escape the cluttered and increasingly violent world of South East London and I have to say it is the best move we have ever made. Great school's, Cheap Housing (On the rise now), Less congestion, Less Crime and of course let's not forget Milton Keynes Shopping centre. Let's face it we all love to shop especially when treating ourselves and the great thing about Milton Keynes is wherever you live in Milton Keynes you are only ever 15 minutes from one of the best shopping centers in the country if not the best.
LOOK AND DESIGN
The centre itself is 1.79 Million Square Feet of pure shopping experience with over 230 retail outlets for you to explore and is bigger than even the Blue Water Shopping Centre. Made almost completely of glass it is not only a great place to shop but a fantastic piece of architecture that is hard to surpass. Laid out in a giant rectangle the Centre has shops on all sides and a large open space at the end where many different event's are held such as Christmas Grottos and Wedding Fair.
As well as all the shop's you also have no end of choice for restaurants and eateries to choose from with Banks, Post Office and many other useful services also available. There is also a daily market where you can pick up some real bargains be it meat from the butcher's or dolls house furniture, again the market also has loads of places to eat and is partially undercover for those rainy days.
The Centre itself claims to have over 50 million customers a year and has planned expansion to happen within the next few years so watch this space the choice may just get even bigger although I can't think of many stores that are not there already.
DISABLED FACILITIES
The Centre appears to me to be very user friendly to everyone almost everything is on ground floor with no steps and the food area upstairs has lifts again which are big enough for wheelchair access. Nearly all doors in and out of the centre are automatic or manual so just press the button to open if you are having problems. You
can also hire for the day wheelchairs and buggies from Shopmobility at the centre making it even easier to get around.
There are dedicated toilets for the disabled and you can enter using a radar key. Powered hoists and emergency alarms are also in every disabled toilet catering for all disabilities. They also have a shopping helper that can be booked by calling ahead in advance.
CHILDREN
For those who like to keep their children with them the centre has numerous car buggy trolley's available(£2.50 Hr) for the little ones but be warned not all shop's accommodate these especially the smaller ones. Also for those wanting a bit of piece while shopping there is a Crèche for 2-9 year olds and its great believe me I have used it my boy didn't want to leave. This costs £3.90 per hour and only runs between the following times but well worth it for that piece of mind as they are also OFSTED registered.
They do all sorts with the kid's everything you'd expect while they are at nursery and more. At the Customer Service Desk you can also hire borrow free of charge toddler reins and ID Wristbands in case you lose your little one.
Changing Facilities here are second to none they are great clean bright decorated and fun with ample space and room for multiple changing of smelly bottoms and all materials available should you be stuck for nappies.
RESTAURANT AND CAFES
You will not have a problem finding anything to eat whilst out either but what you want is completely up to you I would advise trying out John Lewis restaurant great food at great prices but you can go for whatever you want as you can see from the choices below.
BB's Coffee & Muffins Bhs Restaurant Burger King Burger King (1) Costa Coffee Costa Coffee Debenhams Frogz (frozen yoghurt) Giraffe House of Fraser Ice Cream Ice Cream Iceland John Lewis Krispy Kreme Marks & Spencer McDonalds Millies Cookies Millies Cookies Morris Pasties Pizza Hut Ponti's Potato House Pret a Manger Quiznoz subs Sainsburys Starbucks Coffee Starbucks Coffee Sust! Sweet Memories (confectionery) Waitrose Whittard of Chelsea Whittard of Chelsea
SHOPS
Below is a list of all the retail outlets that are currently renting in The Centre I have taken this list from the website so as you are fully informed as to what shops you can expect to find should you decide to pay a visit to The Centre. However I have not copied I have used the list available and put it into my own format so here goes. Boring I know but essential in letting you know what is available.
AUDIO VIDEO AND COMPUTERS Currys.digital Game Game Gamestation HMV John Lewis Shop @ Panasonic Sony Centre Tezco Virgin megastore
BANKS Abbey Alliance & Leicester American Express Foreign Exchange Barclays Bank Halifax Building Society Nationwide Building Society Northern Rock Post Office Royal Bank of Scotland Woolwich plc
MINI STALLS IN WALK WAYS Balloon Boutique Bolso (bags) Flower Barrow Frogz (frozen yoghurt) Hot Hair (wigs and hair accessories) Ice Cream Ice Cream Little Timbers Childrens wooden gifts Lottery Kiosk Nail Bar Photo Crystals RAC RAC Kiosk Silveracki (silver jewellery) Simply Amber Sweet Memories (confectionery) The AA
LARGE WELL KNOWN STORES Bhs Boots The Chemist Debenhams House of Fraser Iceland John Lewis Marks & Spencer Next Sainsburys Virgin megastore Waitrose WHSmith Woolworths
BOOKS AND CARDS
Birthdays bw! John Lewis Marks & Spencer Paperchase Waterstone's Waterstone's (MSP) Waterstone's Academic WHSmith Woolworths Works, The
HEALTH AND PERFUME Boots Health and Beauty Experience
Pictures of MK Shopping Centre (Milton Keynes)
Kids Club
Boots The Chemist Healthzone House of Fraser John Lewis Lush Marks & Spencer Superdrug FOR THE KIDS Balloon Boutique Barratts Boots The Chemist Build-A-Bear-Workshop Early Learning Centre G4 Games Workshop GAP Kids John Lewis JoJo Maman Bébé LEGO Marks & Spencer Mothercare Nike Store Sust! Sweet Memories (confectionery) Woolworths
KIDS CLOTHING Bhs Fat Face GAP Kids John Lewis JoJo Maman Bébé Leatherworld Marks & Spencer Mexx Mothercare Next Okaidi Pineapple Pumpkin Patch Sust! The Disney Store Woolworths
FOODS OVER COUNTER Hotel Chocolat John Lewis Krispy Kreme Let's Eat Millies Cookies Sust!
ESTATE AGENTS Bairstow Eves Your Move
FASHION ADD ONS Beaverbrooks Debenhams Glitz Hawes & Curtis Hot Hair (wigs and hair accessories) House of Fraser John Lewis Leatherworld Marks & Spencer Monsoon Accessorize Next Pineapple River Island Simply Amber Sunglasses Hut Sust! Tie Rack
FOOD CENTRE Iceland Oddbins Wine Merchants Rajdhani Sainsburys Waitrose Whittard of Chelsea
HAIRDRESSERS Braid Salon & Gents Barbers House of Fraser Just Gents Regis Hair Salon Supercuts Toni & Guy Zig Zag Hair Studios
EYE CARE Optical Express Vision Express
JEWELLERY Beaverbrooks Debenhams F Hinds Fraser Hart Glitz Goldsmiths H Samuel H Samuel Hallmark House of Fraser Jewellery Store, The Jewels John Lewis Leslie Davis Next Phelans Simply Amber Stephen Conway Sust! Time Machine Watch & Clock Shop Woolfe Jewellery
LADIES CLOTHES Ann Harvey Ann Summers Blue Star Clothing Debenhams Designer Sale Shop Designer Sale Shop Elle Envy Fat Face GAP H&M House of Fraser Jane Norman John Lewis JoJo Maman Bébé Karen Millen Kookai Krisp La Senza Label Leatherworld Lowgo Mandolin Mango Marks & Spencer Mexx MK One Monsoon Accessorize Next Oasis Office Original Levi's Store Planet Principles Punky Fish Republic River Island Top man/Top shop/Miss selfridge USC Wallis Warehouse Zara
MENS CLOTHES Barratts Base Bhs Burton Debenhams F Hinds Fat Face GAP Goldsmiths H Samuel H Samuel H&M Hawes & Curtis House of Fraser Hugo Boss Jaeger JD Sports Jewellery Store, The John Lewis Label Leatherworld Leslie Davis Lowgo Marks & Spencer Mexx New store opening soon Next Nike Store Pennine Way Scrivens Opticians Sole Trader Stephen Conway Suits You Sunglasses Hut Sust! Tie Rack Time Machine USC
MOBILE PHONES Carphone Warehouse John Lewis O2 O2 Orange Orange (Midsummer Arcade) Phones 4u ThreeStore T-Mobile Vodafone
These are some of the main sections I could think of but there are many many more stores that are probably not on this list as it would take about a week to read it all lol.
EVENTS
The Centre as I said earlier has a section of open space that it uses for displays and exhibitions like the Wedding show that was last weekend there are many more different exhibitions from Artists displaying their work to he BBC Nest Box Challenge so check out what's going on on the website before you visit it may well be worth popping by.
TRANSPORT
If you live in Milton Keynes then you probably own a car as the transport system is not fantastic however it is being improved. By car the centre is very easy to find just head up or down the M1 Motorway and turn off for Milton Keynes the Centre is signposted from nearly every part of Milton Keynes, for those wishing to use the train go to Milton Keynes Central Station and it is a 2 minutebus ride or 15 minute walk down the red routes. Buses do run from nearly every village and estate in Milton Keynes to the city centre but these take very long and drawn out routes and on weekends can be extremely overcrowded.
PARKING
Parking can be a problem there are plenty of spaces but even they all get used up very quickly especially the free spaces, there are many other places to park nearby as well as on the Centre's grounds and a quick 5 minute walk gets you there. Parking charges are about £1.10 an hour so not cheap but cheaper if you buy a few hours in one hit. The car park is regulated so please get a ticket or you will get fined. All parking after 6pm is free.
OPENING HOURS
The Centre is open all week and all stores open however some close earlier than others so please check the website if leaving late to make sure the store you want will still be open.
Monday - Wednesday 9.30am - 6pm Thursday - Friday 9.30am - 8pm (Late night shopping) Saturday 9am - 6pm Sunday and Bank Holidays 11am - 5pm
SURROUNDING
This review is about the centre itself but other great thing's on the doorstep are a plus so I will list them here and if you wish to find out more just search Milton Keynes in Google and you will be able to find out as much as you like about the following.
Big Wheel (Just like the London Eye MK Style lol) Theatre District (Great Shows to be seen) Bar's and Clubs (Loads Oceania Club/Bar is the best) Escape Building (Snowboarding, Skiing, Shops, Cinema, Playland, Bowling and much much more. Aerodrome (UK's First indoor Skydiving facility) MK Dons Football (However moving to Bletchley very soon)
Milton Keynes is overall a great shopping experience and there is fun to be had in the surrounding areas so book yourself a day or even a weekend as the shopping alone will use up a whole day. I will be writing more reviews on the many other things to do whilst out and about in Milton Keynes so keep posted and look out for my new reviews PLEASE lol.
I hope this review has been helpful and that you don't spend to much because of me.
Barry
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Good review, although the list was a little unecessary. Mike
Ailran 10.02.2007 11:54
Far too much of a list for me and I have to admit to fnding te centre a litle boring :o) I go often to the cinema though and off to the Collectormania events twice a year. and they are expanding it again..... :o).
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Feb 6th, 2007
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