| Rushmere Shopping Centre | |
| Location: | Craigavon, County Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Owner: | Killahoey Ltd |
| Number Of Stores: | 65 |
| Number Of Anchors: | 1 |
| Floor Area: | 480,000 sq ft |
| Website: | https://www.rushmereshopping.com |
Rushmere Shopping Centre (formerly known as the Craigavon Shopping Centre or the Craigavon Centre) is a shopping centre and retail park in Craigavon, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Opened in 1976, the centre is the one of the oldest and the third largest shopping centre in Northern Ireland, behind Belfast's Victoria Square and Derry's Foyleside, at over 350,000 sq ft, although combined with the retail park makes it over 480,000 sq ft. The anchor tenant of the centre is Primark, while the retail park's anchors are Homebase and Matalan.[1]
On 21 September 1976, Rushmere opened to the public as the Craigavon Shopping Centre, and the anchor tenants were Dunnes Stores and Crazy Prices along with stores such as Marley Homecare and Eason.
In 1998, the Craigavon Shopping Centre reopened as Rushmere as part of a major expansion which saw a Sainsbury's and Tesco store open, the latter replacing Crazy Prices due to their buyout in 1997.[2] The site was expanded again in 2004 with Debenhams opening as the main tenant in a 150,000 sq ft extension of the centre, and again in 2018 with Nando's and Five Guys opening.[3] [4]
In 2011, Tesco closed its doors to move to a much larger store near the centre. The unit was later subdivided into two units, which left Debenhams and Sainsbury's as the remaining anchors.[5]
During the early 2020s, Rushmere had a major drop in footfall and tenants resulting in the closures of Topshop, Five Guys, Dorothy Perkins/Burton, Debenhams and Sainsbury's, this was mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the company behind Rushmere, Central Craigavon Ltd was placed into administration, Killahoey Ltd bought the struggling shopping centre from the company later in 2023.[6] In the same year, Primark opened on the ground floor of the former Debenhams.[7]
In 2023, Rushmere began a redevelopment scheme to enhance the shopping experience, with a complete facelift to the centre, new stores and a subdivision of the former Sainsbury's supermarket into multiple stores being planned, set to be finished by January 2025.[8] A new Lidl supermarket is also planned.[9] [10] [11]
Rushmere includes stores such as Argos, Boots, Dunnes Stores, JD Sports, Mango, New Look, Primark (anchor tenant), Schuh, Søstrene Grene, TK Maxx and Waterstones, and eateries/cafes such as Caffè Nero, McDonald's and Nando's.[12] [13] [14]