Merrion Centre

its a nifty place.. im pretty mad the strange bike dude has gone though.. definatly a star down for that.. but a decent selection of shops. all at the top of town. so you can usually get what you need, without trecking for miles. woolworths, the works, hawkin’s, play, the model shop and £-stretcher. amoungst others . and look out for some renovations.. that old cinema cant stay derilect for ever.. the cash machines usually have a huge que though..

There’s a good stationery shop here, and a few other weird shops. It’s geared at students and pensioners without much money. Avoid the Morrisons at all costs. It’s crammed, expensive and very busy.

This little, old-fashioned shopping centre if good for finding anything you can think of. There are lots of little shops selling random things, like a hardware shop, etc. and also a big Morrisons with lots of cheap, student-friendly food/alcohol deals. There is also a great chippy/pizz/takeaway, very strangely decorated, like a middle aged lady’s garden but with a takeaway counter in. The pizzas are great, HUGE and CHEAP. The chips are also good, especially with curry sauce…although I’m not too sure what the lumps in that are…The chips by themselves also taste great :)

The Merrion centre is a weird place. There’s the slightly lightly refurbished Morrisons at the back, handy for the students on the way back to headingley. Then Woolworths, plodding along, crammed full of toys and the stalwart pick and mix. Julian Graves, always on a half price sale, Superdrug giving us cheaper toiletries and competing with the nearby boots. But shops aside, it’s a bit of a weird place, not very frequented by the look of it either, stuck at the top of town you’d have to have a purpose to go up there.
The big benefit of the merrion centre is the car park, it’s one of the cheapest in Leeds and it’s very easy to get to if you live in North Leeds.
I think this part of town is improving though. Hopefully the new shops that are opening up in this shopping centre (Sains central, Costa coffee, re-vamped Morrisons) will help the others that might be struggling. Hopefully then they’ll sort the floor out which is deadly when wet in bad weather.

I like the Merrion Centre and its eclectic array of stores. It’s very odd. Housed out back is the Merrion Superstore, which smells a bit funky, but in the main drag you’ve got The Works (great for stationery, cheap cards, books and gifts), an excellent photo shop where the staff are dead friendly, a Poundstretcher (excellent mooching possibilities here), a Superdrug, a Peacocks, a Woolies, a Boots, Shared Earth (best shop ever), and to top it all off the mankiest Morrisons in the world. There are also lots of other shops to delight and entice. Like the pawn shop.

There are a few cashpoints opposite the florists, and although they tend to have long queues they’re usually fast-moving so not so bad.

Be careful if you come in from the St Johns side, the ramp gets slippy.