Have you seen what is happening to the old Allders store?

[SandersteadMum]

It looks like the old Allders store will re-open as 'Croydon Village' which will bring in up to 650 jobs and hopefully a better shopping experience in the centre of Croydon.

What are your thoughts on this?

Croydon Village

It's a shame that Allders has gone but it had both House of Fraser and Debenhams to compete with and I'm not sure there was the need for three department stores within such close proximity.

It's great news that it's going to re-open as a shopping centre and create more jobs. Although, I read that the Westfield company are buying (Or may now have bought?) Centrale and The Whitgift Centre so there'll be stiff competition for Croydon Village when it opens.

I think it's great they are doing something with the place until the whole Whitgift/Westfield shebang gets underway.

Croydon definitely needs a lift.

Croydon needs to advertise itself more!

Until I moved here I had no idea that there was a whole street of restuarants or that it was worth visiting for its good range of shops. I suppose the riots have pushed things back but Croydon must be due its 'fashionable status' soon surely? Look at Brixton and Crystal Palace, both very popular with families now. When I was a child they were no go areas. Balham was never a desirable address but it's thriving now and has a really fun, cosmopolitan feel.

Let's hope the new shopping centres bring lots of people to the area who previously would not have thought of coming to Croydon.

So, I popped along this week to see what the 'Croydon Village Outlet' was like. Oh dear, the word that comes to mind is 'grim'. It wasn't even clean and the clothing offering wasn't as glamorous as I had expected. I had expected designer brands but more like a covered market. I do hope that it perks up.

The much trumpeted food hall had a range of offerings from cheese counters to a bakery - selling loaves for £4.50!!

Who has been there and spotted some bargains?