Gracechurch Shopping Centre

The Gracechurch Centre or, to give it it’s ungrammatical and Americanised modern name: Mall Gracechurch (I know, horrible innit?) is generally unloved among the locals. Built in 1974 by basically wiping out the middle of Sutton and starting again, the Gracechurch has been modified several times but still has the same basic shape. Beneath a sizeable multi-​storey car-​park, the shopping area is mostly covered and is clean and plenty spacious. A lot of shops come and go but the long-​serving stalwarts are House of Fraser (formerly Beatties), WHSmiths, Marks & Spencers and Boots. The other shops are mostly filled with (women’s) clothes.
Locals often moan that the Gracechurch is full of rubbish shops and not enough local, independent traders. Ironically, whenever a local trader does try their luck, they soon shut down due to lack of custom. Compared to somewhere modern like Touchwood, the Gracechurch isn’t great; compared to somewhere like the Saddlers Centre in Walsall, it’s great. You can pretty much find everything you need up there or very nearby on the Parade.
Back in the day the spaces in the Gracechurch were filled with oversize chess pieces, now there’s a more helpful Information Kiosk, lots of benches and a jacket potato stand which has been there for as long as I can remember (and probably longer) and so can’t be too bad.

gracechurch shopping centre has a good variety of shops, including, tk maxx, argos, new look, wilkinsons, bank, boots, mcdonalds, poundland and many more.
it has a selection of banks, and cash machines scattered about, but the bus stops are located straight through the centre meaning loads of crowds gather and its difficult to pass alone let alone with a buggy.
theres always plently of kids about, especially after school, but i guess most centres are the same.
its nice at xmas when the grotto and decs are up.

I have been shopping here for many years, and it has changed a lot. It has many of the big names such as Boots, Beatties, M&S, Argos, Woolworths, WHSmith etc, and there are places to eat and drink like McDonalds, Costa coffee and Subway.
The main parade area is pedestrianised, and they often have a farmers market and arts & crafts stalls on the main shopping street.
At Christmas there is an impressive Santa‘s grotto!
New additions to Sutton are Aldi & Poundland.
At the top of the parade is the historic old Town School building, which is now home to Sutton Baptist church, where on some days you can pop in and get a coffee and baked potatoe!

A typical local shopping centre. Gracechurch is in need of a updating but is ideal for locals as it has easy parking and a good selection of Hugh Street shops but nothing more.
Shops include, New Look, Woolworths, WH Smiths, House of Fraser (very limited store, see seperate review) H&M, Starbucks, TK Maxx and River Island.
Food places are limited, there is TG Fridays (very good) a Mac Donalds (ok), Starbucks (very small) and a Café Nero (very good) and then cafes in the depratments stores.
There is parking attached to the centre, also further carparks spread out around the shopping centre. There is also baby changing facilites, but they arn’t always the cleanest.