(10 Jun 2020, 11:24 am)Ambassador wrote At the time of the closure it was the right thing to do, Retail was booming and the old food court wasn't really fit for purpose and Brits were eating out like we'd got no kitchens at home.

Ironically the MetroCentre development plan includes new leisure facilities. Now we'll see out of town shopping centres create more unique selling points to make you visit them over say online or a city centre which has the pubs, restaurants and easier access.

And MetroCentre has lost its allure - it's not the 80s anymore, the internet exists, people want experiences not just soulless identikit shopping experiences that whether you're at intu Milton Keynes or intu MetroCentre all feel the same.

It was a few years ago, but I was reading something about the ghost malls in America. Starting to wonder if we will follow that trend too. 

One I don't mind, is The Oracle in Reading. Not sure if it's the design or because of its location by the river - but it has something about it that intu centres don't.
It's been a while since I was there, but the two in Nottingham that intu have, were pretty awful.

It doesn't seem too long ago, that the metro centre had independent retailers and stores. There was a sweetshop by the old cinema, the tat shop next door, a couple of places to buy stuff for my Amiga... That's just off the top of my head. 
Now, it's pretty much the same store in every town centre and shopping centre up and down the country. As you say, it's identikit.