Grand Arcade

Yes it is souless and the usual suspects — mobile shops — haunt the Arcade but it has given Cambridge a great new John Lewis (even locals still call it Robert Sayle!) and the first Rigby Peller outside of London. Cambridge desperately needed a decent shopping centre since the Grafton Centre stalled, unable to accommodate more than two large stores due to its size. And thank god we have a library again.
I recommend that everyone walks through and ignores the no hoods rule, esp. if you’re of the older generation, you will be guaranteed a place in local legend as the jobsworth security guards try to get you to leave :)

I walk through the long passage of this Arcade daily on my way to the faculty, and the impression it makes is largely that of a bleak characterless provincial mall. There is no design creativity whatsoever with shops simply lined up along the way on two levels.
It’s filled with bland typical high street businesses like mobile phone companies’ stores, HMV, Starbucks, Tophshop, etc. On the bright side there is also Hugo Boss here. An attempt to develop the upmarket retailing is also evident in a number of high end watch and jewelry boutiques.
Overall though, with all the foreign tourists, students and the general reputation of Cambridge for being an attractive town, its premier modern department store could be somewhat more interesting.

I don’t think Cambridge needed the Grand Arcade. Yes, it is a major shopping destination (since all the other local towns seem unable to compete), but the Grand Arcade doesn’t seem to add anything. It feels clean and new and swanky and upmarket and everything, but it doesn’t seem to fit with Cambridge’s comfortable higgledy-​piggledy jumble of shops in old buildings. The new shops are generally shops that already existed in Cambridge, but have just relocated. Those that are new are mostly expensive jewellers. The Grand Arcade has made Cambridge an even busier shopping centre, but not a more attractive or enjoyable place to be, nor can you even buy much more as a result. what a pity.

The Grand Arcade is the newest shopping centre in the centre of Cambridge, which opened only a few months ago. I’m a great lover of the old city centre so this is a stark contrast to the original layout that encompasses lion yard and I believe in the future will also expand to Petty Curie. The range of shops are the same as you find in any other town /​city centre so no surprises there and the parking fees have now escalated to astronomical prices, we parked for 3 hours a week ago or so and the cost was around £5, so my advice is to catch the park and ride.

Yep — very disappointing, the hype for this place was amazing, the money spent amazing, unfortunately the outcome, not so amazing!
Dull, dark, empty, boring, mobile phone shops, nothing really to look at, I simply use it to get to the specific shop I need, John Lewis mostly. Yes, yet another mobile phone shop there, and a Apple shop, which I haven’t plucked up enough courage to go in yet, as I am not quite sure what it is. No seating, so any elderly people wouldn’t have a hope to make it from one end to another on their feet. Another disappointment for Cambridge I fear.

The architecture of the Grand Arcade is so much better than the Lion Yard. I really like the natural light in the Arcade with the glass ceiling and also I like the way that it integrates in behind the older building that front on to the street. However, the roof is so far away they possibly could have had an additional level of shops!
Some of the units are still empty — apparently Rigby and Peller were going to move in, but changed their minds — possibly to do with the credit crunch however.
Also another thing that bugs me is that there are no bins, but that’s probably a security thing.

What a shame… if all the story telling was to be beleived we were going to get exactly what Cambridge needed — a quality new shopping area which met our needs. Unfortunately i would suggest the Grand Arcade ahs failed to deliver.
Some units are still empty giving the impression that it isnt finidhed in parts, and many of the shops that are there are just the same old carbon copies you can get anywhere.
The feeling inside is certainly lacking in something as it just doesnt create the right impression of somewhere you would want to stay to shop in. Good ideas. poor result.

Bland Arcade. A huge disappointment really, a boring, soulless mall full of chain stores. Adds nothing to the City, nothing for kids, no style, no plants, water or natural light. Half empty.
Hell, even Lion Yard has more character.
Just wait ten years and they’ll begin planning another monstrosity

Phew! Finally, the grand arcade has opened. I watched most time from bus windows as workers laboured through out the cold winter, building arguably one of the best shopping centres in Cambridge. I t open on the 27^th of March and I visited on the 29^th, would have loved to be there the same day. The shops available is a welcome addition to others, most are new and some already have branches in Grafton centre.
Walking through the Grand arcade was a reminder of Charlie and the chocolate factory everything looked good and there were varieties from sport shops to shoes, designers to high street. Making up your mind for which shop to enter first will be the most difficult decision you will make for the day.
There is something for everyone, some of the men shops were all saint, boss, Gerry Weber, TM Lewin. The women shops are river island, wallis, warehouse, Jane Norman, G-​star crew, Topshop, crew clothing and the list goes on and on. Not to forget the children, Polarn O Pyret (AKA POP) is a nice shop for children’s wear.
Then there is the coffee shop where you can have a cuppa and slice of cake while you take a rest from shopping and gather energy for the next round. If you haven’t been to the Grand arcade yet then you probably can’t feel my excitement.
Shop till drop? No shop till your bag pops.
My next campaign is to bring Primark to Cambridge; I want it added to the list of shops in the Grande Arcade, so watch the space BARGAIN HUNTERS.