Norwich: Castle Quarter to replace vacant units with pop-ups

Castle Quarter has gone through multiple changes and facelifts to bring in customers since it opened almost 30 years ago.

Castle Social is the latest venture from bosses to bring customers into the centre (Image: Newsquest)

It currently has some prominent units empty, including the Pure Electric store at its Castle Meadow entrance and the Cocina restaurant and Veeno bar at its Farmers Avenue entrance.

However, since taking over as centre manager in 2017, Rob Bradley and his team have transformed more than 83,000sqft of retail space into food and drink, leisure or entertainment use.

Mr Bradley said: "We wanted to pivot from a traditional city shopping centre to a social, leisure and lifestyle hub, where we now have a 50-50 split between shops and leisure operators.

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Work started on, what was then known as Castle Mall, in 1990 (Image: Newsquest)

"Footfall within Castle Quarter is comfortably outperforming the wider city centre and we've seen customers taking advantage of everything on offer.

"Retail, however, has been far from abandoned and is still a key attraction.

"We're in constant negotiations with new businesses looking for city centre space, but our priority is to bring in the right brands that will add to our already vibrant mix."

Rob Bradley, centre manger at Castle Quarter, said anything is possible with the new pop-up shop idea (Image: Castle Quarter)

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One way the centre is looking to achieve this is by setting up pop-up shops for specialist, independent businesses.

The plan is to provide traders with the option to rent a space from as little as one day, up to three months - with an opportunity for a long-term lease if both parties wish.

The centre has undergone a number of revamps and name changes since it opened in September 1993 (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Bradley added: "It's not all about long-term leases because I don't think that's where the high street is headed, so we think this will provide flexibility to see if having a shop here is suitable for everyone involved.

"We'll start with one shop but if the demand is there then anything is possible."

History of Castle Quarter

• Plans for the centre go back to 1977 when architect Michael Inns came up with a plan for a shopping centre in Norwich city centre.
• In 1990, The Castle Hotel was demolished and work began.
• It opened as Castle Mall on September 23, 1993, costing £145m. It included shops such as Argos, Disney Store, Virgin Megastore and Boots.
  Pop up shops where tenants can spend anywhere, from one day to three months, will be used to fill the vacant units (Image: Newsquest)
• In 1999, an unoccupied area of the centre was redeveloped to a cinema, currently the Vue, before the centre was sold to The Mall Fund in the 2000s and renamed to The Mall Norwich.
• In 2005 the centre lost major stores including The Disney Store and H&M, which moved to Chapelfield.
• In 2012, the centre was sold again to InfraRed and was renamed back to Castle Mall.
  The idea of a shopping centre in Norwich came about in 1977 by architect Michael Inns (Image: Newsquest)
• The centre got a new dining quarter in 2015, called Timberhill Terrace.
• In mid-2019, the centre was renamed Castle Quarter.
• In late 2022 the top of Castle Quarter was taken over by Market Asset Management to transform the space into a new street food hall called Castle Social.
  The pivot to a more hybrid centre has been successful said Mr Bradley (Image: Newsquest)