Princes Quay is sort of a weird place in my opinion. Opened in 1991, it was once the hotspot for Hull's retail and entertainment. It was the big mall, and it was the only mall. Then in 2007, St Stephens Shopping Centre opened just down the road (read all about that in our previous blog post) and left it sort of in second place.
There were plans to spend 300 million pounds to expand the building, adding 60 shops, two department stores, cafes, restaurants, and a leisure complex, however those plans were axed due to an economic decline and change of management. The once sprawling mall is now often left strangely quiet. In peak hours, the Superbowl on the bottom floor can be max capacity, but with all of the other competition in town and the consistent downward slope that malls have been on over the years since the rise of delivery services such as Amazon mean that tourists and residents alike might often prefer the alternatives.
The vibes are worsened by the multiple empty retail spaces, often turned off escalators, entrances and exits being closed at different times, and the general fact that the design of the building can be extremely confusing at times due to it's many exits and lack of any symmetry whatsoever. I often go there just to see a movie at the Vue on the top floor, and by the time I get out, I'm turned around a good few times as I'm trying to leave because they've locked all but one door and the door they choose seems to change based on the last few times I've been.
If I'm honest, I would assume this place might become interesting again to tourists in a different way in the next decade or so as it becomes a remnant of it's former self, slowly dying out like many malls before it and others like me who enjoy going into the history of abandoned buildings and projects might come from all over the world to take pictures and document the decay. When that happens, I hope you will stay with us at one of our many vacation properties.
See you soon,
- Dakota Morrill
Padoo Homes
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