Darlington Town Centre as a sub-regional shopping centre has a catchment area population of around 500,000 people and has over 600 shops and businesses set in a pleasant shopping environment.
Much of the town centre has undergone a recent transformation, with new high quality pedestrian dominated streets and open spaces. In addition, attractive new street furniture and public art features provide a fresh new look.
The town centre is relatively compact which enables easy pedestrian movement. The old and the new stand side by side, with many of the High Street names you might expect; two excellent indoor shopping centres and an enviable number of unique specialist shops. Town centre shopping also benefits from highly successful schemes such as Shopmobility, Crimenet and a comprehensive CCTV system.
The town centre also builds on its heritage as a market town with fresh local produce on sale in the Victorian covered market, a vibrant outdoor market on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays: and occasional speciality markets also taking place.
In addition to the variety of shops on offer, the Town Centre also boasts many other features including:
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Attractive floral displays
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Unique public art features - Life Pulse and Water Cascade
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Street events and attractions
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Relaxing pavement cafés
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Restaurants serving food from around the world
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A buzzing nightlife, with numerous bars and clubs
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Library
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Wonderful Victorian architecture and a heritage to be proud of
Looking to the future, an exciting development, that will greatly enhance the shopping offer is begining to move forward in the town centre.
Planning permission has been granted for a £45m Shopping Centre, 'The Oval' that will link into the existing Queen Street Shopping Centre at Commercial Street. The proposed Centre will comprise of 25 retail units, including an 85,000 square foot department store, a leisure unit, restaurant gallery and 1,100 car parking spaces will be provided.
Commercial Street site
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22,100 square metres of retail shopping floor space over two floors, anchored by a department store
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6,000 square metres of leisure floor space on the third floor, anchored by a 9-screen cinema and associated food and drink uses (2 other leisure uses unknown at present)
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Winter Garden, a glazed atrium feature providing a café and public exhibition space at eastern end of development, adjacent to department store
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Development linked by a pedestrian bridge over St Augustine's Way
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New signalised junction into the car park from St Augustine's Way and at grade pedestrian crossing over St Augustine's Way linking the car park and shopping centre
Kendrew Street site
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6-level multi-storey car park providing 799 car parking spaces (including disabled spaces and parent and child spaces)
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26 apartments on Gladstone Street and King Street facing elevations of the multi-storey car park
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Parking for apartments provided in basement level of multi-storey car park accessed off Gladstone Street