Highcross Leicester

This shopping mall has turned into a Mausoleum of empty shops and no people. I went on Friday lunchtime, pay day weekend and I literally couldn’t believe it.

I parked one space away from the doors and payment machines for a start and it wasn’t the only available super convenient space.

I am writing this as I was a bit concerned the only shop with any people in it was the Apple Store.

I remember when Hammerson property company took on the project to upgrade the old Shires in 2008 offering and how the talk of big designer name brands coming to Leicester would revive the whole area and attract money and visitors from outside the City.

Roll on 15 years and there are more shops empty than occupied, even all the glossy Clear Channel advertising screen are black and lifeless, the only thing that caught my eye was a massive aesthetics clinic offering facial filler injections for £39 yikes.

Oh and there is a Costa coffee without any windows if your need for your frothy coffee fix overtakes while in there.

On the website it boasts over 40 restaurants but other than Frankie and Benny’s, Pizza Express and TGIF and the John Lewis cafeteria I am not sure where they all are, the Handmade Burger joint, closed, Carluccios closed, cafe rouge closed.

I guess they still have Wagamamas and the fancy cinema the Vue but not sure what else you’d want to come here for.

Even on the way out the parking machine was broken and we had to wait 15 minutes for someone to answer the phone so we could leave.