Whiteleys Shopping Centre

Whiteleys used to be somewhat of a West London secret, a decent sized shopping mall with just the right collection of shops in a beautiful old building. M&S has obvious pulling power which is now diminished by a massive Waitrose around the corner and branches of Tesco and Sainsbury’s popping up all over the place.
Whiteleys used to bring a bit of class to an otherwise nondescript neighbourhood dominated by fast food outlets for low rent tourists. Now the picture has been reversed. More upmarket outlets like Jigsaw or Muji have long gone and most retail units on the ground floor have been filled with «fillers» to pass the time until imminent development.
The first floor has always been a bit of a poor cousin and just looked cheap and nasty. I didn’t bother checking out the second floor when I realised Yo! Sushi had been boarded up. Presumably the cinema’s still there.

What a waste of space… half the shops were not open, shop staff were touting for your custom, very pathetic for where it was.

Strange place. I remember coming to the reopening here in the late 80s. Terry Wogan was here and everything! Real special stuff.
Ever since then it has floundered in the relative mediocrity. This place is really strange. It’s a beautiful building. Very well designed, but it’s like in some way cursed. If you look back on some of the history of the building, It was has always had a grand ideas and great potential, but through fires, accidents and crane disasters for some reason or another, the place always has problems.
And so to how it is today. There are a number of pretty good stores located here, but nothing that cannot be found in any regular high street throughout the country. The place always feels like there is one 10^th the amount of footfall of what it should be free place this size.
I do occasionally like to come through here, but it is more prominent static point of view, as opposed to actually being excited to be here. Normally, I am heading to the fantastic New Fortune Cookie restaurant just up the street.
Now place that is something special.

I used to really like coming to Whiteleys.
When the original department store closed and was reopned as a multi store centre, with restaurants and a cinema complex it was a enjoyable shopping experience. On recent visits though, the centre seems really run down. I could not believe that there were several second hand shops there now (passing off as vintage clothing).
On the second floor the eating places seem to be closing down and not being replaced. It all appears to have lost a sense purpose. The only useful shops left are Marks & Spencer, H&M and Zara, all of which have larger outlets at nearby the Westfield shopping centre. The £2.80 parking fee for 1hour is not really a crowd puller either.
I’ve heard that it is to close down to become a apartment complex with shops on the ground floor level onto the street. The quicker they do this and put this dying shopping complex out of its misery the better!

The most prominent mall in the area. They have Odeon cinema and All star bowling lanes.
I’m normally here for M&S Food.
Eating options are limited to chains at Café Rouge, you get better variety on Queensway Street outside.
There’s a mixed bag of stores ranging from discounted designer ware to pricey stuff.

The staff at Whiteleys are fantastic I recently did a pop up barber shop there and the management, security and cleaners where fantastic with us. The only thing letting Whiteleys down is that it desperately needs some better shops. It will be sad when this iconic building is turned into flats as it has massive potential all that is needed is some quality shops maybe performers in and around the centre would be a good idea.

This looks like a mall in flux. Some of the floor look like theyre going through a renovation. Some basic clothing, beauty, food, and shopping. The best place is the supermarket by far. The movie venue seems closed? And even in London the mall is infected with a Starbucks. Sigh

i have come here several times over the years when visiting london, there used to be some exciting shops were you were able to browse without the hassle of central london. at my latest visit i february 2014 most of the exciting shops had closed. the place were grubby.
this were probably my last visit

Whiteleys is one of those places I’ve always passed by while out and about, but never stopped in. I decided to change that the other day and go.
I’m not the only one who’s not in here, clearly, this is a rather large two floor shopping centre with it’s own Odeon Cinema and, yet, felt abandoned and alone. Sometimes we were strolling and never saw another person down the hallway.
Sad too because there are some nice stores here. The M&S is a giant one (no express here) and a while bunch of clothing stores like H&M. They also have a bunch of food, most of it chainy like Yo Sushi or Real China Buffet. There’s also bowling but you can’t get to it from inside, but outside (there are signs that point you the way.)
That being said, there were a lot of stores closed or for rent, so I guess some people felt the pains of no one coming through the door.
Really though, it’s peaceful just to walk through. The place is beautifully designed with high ceilings, curved staircases, marble floors and old illustrated adverts for Whiteleys clothing items (like corsets for fashionable London ladies) on all the pillars throughout. Overall, I enjoyed my stop in and may stop in again.

Whiteleys used to be the world’s largest department store and frankly I’d much prefer it if it had remained that way.
As a shopping mall it doesn’t really make the grade. Not that many shops and the ones it does have aren’t very inspiring.
Its only redeeming feature is the convenient parking at the back (that you have to pay for, but it’s handy if you’re going to any of the restaurants in the local vicinity) and Oddonno’s ice cream on the top floor, which is just awesome :)

There are three great things about Whiteleys:
1) Location and convenience
2) you can shop comfortably in any weather
3) Beauty Base (this place is great for gifts)

I am staying right by this mall and it reminds of me of the dying malls in Michigan (recessionized) except that the food business in this mall is still very lively. They have interesting and non-​food court like restaurants, a Costa which is a favored British coffee source, and a Marks and Spencers.
The shopping on the other hand is only so so. A random store selling «vintage» with a giant selection of fur coats, a Kurt Geiger, Zara, Gap, and not much else to date.

The glory days are over I reckon. many shops empty. not a lot of people strolling through the once beautiful building. not a very pleasant atmosphere to be all by yourself in a mall. cafes also quite unfrequented. but if you are in bayswater then just pop in and check out the architecture. in its hayday it must have been glorious.

2 weeks ago my wife and I stayed in the Grand Plaza Apartments a walking distant from Whiteleys shopping center.
We found it as if it has been abandon, lifeless despite the nice shops and attractive offers.
My wife wanted to buy a handbag before we depart to the airport by 08:30am but sadly they open at 10:00! May I suggest that each shop’s window display is published on the internet with dates and merchandise displayed showing prices to allow unfortunate shoppers to order via internet. Please let me know what you think! Yours sincerely
Zouhair Naccache

I usually only come here for the Odeon. There is a Marks & Spencer, but to be honest, I’m more of a Tesco man.

I visited this place daily since it was near my hotel. The best part of it was the M&S and the Costa Coffee. The rest of the shopping center was pretty much a ghost town. Even the H&M and Zara seemed understocked. That said, it filled my needs for food and coffee while I was visiting.

I’m so confused… is this a retail graveyard? Or is this a great idea and pure and utter convenience in the middle of zone one? Either way the question remains: where are all the people?
I guess I shouldn’t complain, I was able to pass back and forth between high street shops with ease and tick about five boxes off my weekly shopping list, from groceries to tights to a mobile phone issue. Nice! But creepy… But nice. I think.
What I really appreciate is the affordable pop up space that is available for incredible creative ventures like Bompas and Parr’s bubble gum factory! Every time I come there’s something new and interesting going on in that space, so if for nothing more I’ll be back to Whiteley’s. Along with all the other person.

Do you want to see the recession in action in London? Where people aren’t spending, spending, spending? Then come to Whiteleys!
With about ¹⁄₃ the shopping spaces «for rent» and for some bizarre reason a gourmet food supermarket spread out in the middle of the ground floor urm… thoroughfare; coupled with lack luster yet overpriced dining options upstairs, it is no surprise that Whiteleys happened to be empty this rainy sunday afternoon.
Coz who won’t go to Westfield instead?

Whiteleys is a good sized mall in Queensway/​Bayswater, which has recovered well from the bad publicity of the crane falling off onto the street when it was being built. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident.
There is a good mix of businesses — everything from a nice sized M&S with food hall to Karen Millen for the ladies to the nic nacs in Muji. The shopping is spread out over the first 2 levels and the major challenge may be to get from one floor to another — they seem to have the most bizarre arrangement of escalators.
On the top floor is a good food mall and the Odeon cinema. There is a whole variety of food on offer from Rowley Leigh’s brasserie style Café Anglais to Tex/​Mex at Oscars to YO Sushi. Another great shop I like is the juice bar near the toilets on this floor. Of course you also have some amazing restaurants within minutes walk on Westbourne Grove.
One great recent addition are the Food Inc stalls on the ground floor. These are aiming at more aspirational cooks and offer a butcher, finshmonger, cheese shop, fresh pasta maker and general store in its various stalls. Worth a browse.
Another little tip is to look at All Star Lanes bowling which you have to access from outside the mall. Good fun.

Schönes Einkaufszentrum in einem alten Kaufhaus. Also viel Atmosphäre. Ist nicht so voll wie auf Oxford Street.
Die Highlights:
Food Inc. — tolle Lebensmittel
E&A Moda — Designermode-​Outlet (Prada, D&G, DvF,.)
Zara —
The Gap — Kids & Erwachsene
Muji —
Jigsaw —
Karen Millen —
The reflexology Shop –Massage
Buchladen
Blumenstand

I don’t really like shopping centres — they’re too obvious, too near the motorway. Whiteley’s however is one of the more pleasing kind — it’s at least 100 years old and has an elegance from the outside in. It’s also just off Queensway so it is properly in London and part of the local area.
Most of the shops are big name chain stores (check site for list) but it’s all easy to find and located around the central atrium area where Food Inc sits at the bottom. Food Inc is nice enough too, the closest a shopping centre gets to a market. Good — for a shopping centre.