Which shopping centre next?
Big Brent Cross?
We used to love Brent Cross. Free parking then. Shopping all indoors, lots of little shops pinned, sandwiched, between two big stores, Fenwick, Waitrose. I used to spend all day there.
Locked In
I once got locked in. I was stuck with a baby buggy. (Americans say stroller.)
The escalators stopped. So I went back, waited for the lift, and I took the lift down to the ground floor.
But the doors from the store to the inner mall were locked.
I phoned security from inside a lift (Elevator to my American Readers.) After a long wait, the caretaker found me. He let me out.
I got home late.
I said to my husband, "You would never have known where I was, whether I was still inside, or whether I had left!"
He retorted, "I would eventually have gone to look for you. I would have known you were inside. Your little lime green car would have still been in the car park. The only car in the car park. My wife - still inside the shopping mall - at midnight."
Bargain Hunting Day Out?
My dear shopaholics - where else can you, we, go shopping? A day trip from London.
Westfield.
Galleria.
More Mega Store Shopping Malls
Discount stores.
Happy Harrow
Harrow when you are in a hurry, is more compact, with two malls, and the enclosed pedestrian area outside, on holidays filled with extra shopping stalls or kiddie rides.
The two malls are named St George's and St Ann's. Anne without an e. The same name as a road outside.
I used to be unable to remember which was which. Then one day I had my mobile phone ready to photograph and I looked up and I realized that St George's had friezes of the story of St George and the dragon, all around the ceiling two storeys above.
For clothes shopping you have Marks & Spencer, or Primark. For bargain groceries, Lidl.
Out in the main street, where buses pass, lots of smaller shops, such as Dyson.
Back to the car park at St George's.
On the way we stopped for a reviver of a snack. Starbucks.
Starbucks
An assortment of coffees. A variety of seating styles. The snacks were in short supply by late afternoon, but there's always something. We found a tasty, crunchy biscuit.
The St George's Car Park
You pay by the hour. A car park pay machine is upstairs on the gallery just by the jewellery shop.
Remember to pay indoors 'on the ground floor'. Signs say you can 'pay on exit' but it didn't work for us. They have automatic number plate recognition. So once you have paid for the exit, (up on the mezzanine), you just approach the barrier and it lifts.
Other useful shops in and near London include Costco near Bushey and Watford, the big Borehamwood Tesco Extra supermarket, and the London Designer Outlet at Wembley.
Happy Shopping!
Useful Websites
https://www.costco.co.uk/refer-a-friend
https://www.stgeorgesshopping.co.uk/
https://www.stannsshopping.co.uk/
https://www.londondesigneroutlet.com/?utm_source=googe_business&utm_medium=organic
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g186217-Activities-c26-t140-England.html
