To think Trafford centre, Meadowhall etc

[catarinapovre5]

Are they just horrible temples to consumerism?

Funny you should say that. When I first drove past the Trafford Centre when it was being built I thought it was going to be a mosque with the dome and all.

Turns out to be a temple to Mammon instead.

Aren’t they just shopping centres?! Don’t think too deeply.

They’re convenient 🤷‍♀️

Bit deep for a Monday night OP

Well...they are literally shopping centres so I'm not sure what else you would expect tbh?

Well, yeah, they're crammed full of shops, but they're designed more for convenience than worship.

A temple to Mammon!!

'I'm just off to the Temple to Mammon to see if they've got any cold shoulder tops'!!

Yeah, but at the moment Meadowhall is comparatively empty, and has air conditioning, so it's the best time to visit........

I just see shopping centres like a town centre but with a roof so you don't get wet and security so you don't get pestered by chuggers or spiceheads.

Kind of agree but on the other hand it’s loads of jobs for the local areas.

I love the Trafford centre but that's a brilliant description.

Yes - but no parking charges, no dangerous roads to cross with kids, no rain in between shops, shaded from sun and no pavement charity collectors irritating you.

‘This was the English passion, not for self-improvement or culture or wit, but for DIY, Do It Yourself, for bigger and better houses with more mod cons, the painstaking accumulation of comfort and, with it, status - the concrete display of earned cash.‘

They are a bit soulless but it's the convenience that draws people in. When we moved into our local area I made an effort to go to the local market to check it out. There's no parking nearby so it's not easy to transport your stuff as you have to carry it all. Public transport is pretty good but it's not feasible to do your entire weekly shop and lug it home on the bus when you already have a car and a Tesco nearby.

Likewise going shopping in the town centre is OK, but most of the shops are pound places, charity shops and bookies. Parking is expensive, choice is limited. and everything shuts at 5:30 - which is when I finish work! Whereas I can hop in the car and drive to the Trafford, with free parking, restaurants on site and a variety of shops open 7 days a week until late evening.

My DP and DFil call is MeadowHell

*it FFS

Don't visit them then!

And they are no worse than every other big shopping centre in the UK (or the world!)

I live near the Traffic Centre, it's very convenient and I'm in there lots. I'm usually in and out before the scrotes are out of bed and before the traffic gets bad. It's handy for M&S for food shopping and I like a Starbucks or a Boost juice in the morning

I get what you mean, OP. In times to come anthropologists will see the buildings we create, the space they take up, the work constructing them, as evidence of the priority that buying things has for us. Not things we need, but things we wander around looking for to buy, as a key aspect of leisure time.

It's Meadowhell in our house, but it is very convenient.

My daughter used to call it the Traffic Centre when she was 3.

I much prefer them to the high street. I know that's not the 'right' opinion to have but there you go.

The TC is my local shops. So i know how to beat the traffic and just pop in.

They do have lots of faux classical sculpture much like a temple. I always see TC like a try hard Caesar's palace or similar vegas hotel.

Anyway its ok if you need something particularly but with work home and dc then traipsing round shops for fun is not my thing now.