Before Primark and B&M: memories of Monks Cross York

As another retailer eyes up the shopping centre on the outskirts of York – jewellery specialist Pandora is looking to open in the old Accessories unit – we look back at the place that wasn’t just somewhere you shopped but a ‘destination’.

Monks Cross Shopping Centre under construction in 1998.

Remember the fanfare opening in 1998, when TV presenter Jeff Banks turned up to do the honours? And who made a beeline for Hollyoaks heartthrob Will Mellor when he was invited to open HMV?

Will Mellor, right, then a Hollyoaks heartthrob, cuts the ribbon and opens the HMV store at the new Monks Cross shopping park. He is pictured with then store manager Andy Syson and HMV’s mascot, Nipper the dog. (Image: The Press)

In the late 1990s and early 2000s a trip to Monks Cross involved a drive out on the ring road and the smug satisfaction of finding a free parking space.

Monks Cross Shopping Centre under construction in 1998

You could step out of the car and straight into a strip of big‑name stores without having to battle your way down Coney Street – to the dismay of many city-centre traders whose jingling tills were slightly more subdued. It’s fair to say the whole city-centre versus out-of-town shopping debate filled many column inches of this very newspaper.

Before Primark and B&M: memories of Monks Cross Shopping Centre York.

But for many shoppers, it was a time when a trip to Monks Cross felt like the height of sophistication – even though you were really just walking around a big car park with a WHSmith bag and ketchup on your sleeve.

For many, those early days will also be forever tied to a handful of now‑vanished shopfronts.

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HMV with its wall of chart CDs; PC World stacked with chunky monitors and boxed software; Woolworths with its endless pick’n’mix and slightly chaotic aisles. Add a Burger King stop to the circuit and you had the perfect Saturday.

Monks Cross was also a rite of passage where teenagers got their first Saturday jobs, learned how to fold jumpers properly and sprinted across the car park on a ten‑minute break. It was also where newly‑qualified drivers practised parking in slightly wonky bays.

A Monks Cross “date” meant sharing a burger, loitering in HMV pretending to have very serious opinions about albums, and wandering past windows full of things you couldn’t yet afford.

Close your eyes and you can still see the logos that have faded from the fascias: the familiar sweep of the Debenhams sign and BHS Homestore promising new towels and matching lamps.

Many will remember the sweeping sign of Debenhams at Monks Cross Shopping Centre.

Bu it wasn’t all plain sailing. Woolies shut up shop in 2005. Pick ‘n’ mix was never to be the same again. Fast forward to 2018 and retail giant Arcadia also pulled out, spelling the closure of Evans, TopMan, TopShop, Miss Selfridge and Outfit.

Stores earmarked for closure at Monks Cross Shopping Centre in 2018.

The stores had shared the same south-facing row of the shopping park where the vacant former BHS store had stood empty since August 2016.

Today, the old names have been replaced by Primark, Decathlon, Smyths, Sports Direct, B&M and a parade of value fashion, sportswear and homeware. Instead of queueing for the Christmas single, you queue with an armful of holiday tops you never knew you needed. Instead of a new stereo, you come away with bulk‑buy cleaning products and storage boxes. Shoppers can now also bag the latest best-seller since Waterstones moved in.

But for all the latest branding, Monks Cross still feels familiar to the ‘good old days’ – you still tell yourself you’re “just popping to one shop” and end up doing the full lap.

What are your Monks Cross memories? What stores would you like to see make a comeback?