St John's Shopping Center

This is one of several mid-range, budget shopping centres in Leeds city centre and aren't we lucky to have so many of them so we can hide from the rain?

There's not really much out of the ordinary here but it does it's job. I'm sure there are plenty of bargains to be found if you know where to look. Shops flank the wide walk ways which are also dotted with stalls selling things like off-brand hand bags and personalised gifts. There are a couple of food places too, but they're the standard thing you expect in a shopping centre (McDonalds and, I think, a Subway).

Student discounts are offered in a lot of the stores, which further helps if you're shopping on a tight budget. Probably the most interesting stores are Evolution, an ethical home ware store and Jumbo records, and independent music shop.

Since the addition of Found in the St. Johns Centre, my visitation rates here have increased vastly, so I felt the need to add an update. (Though I mentioned previously, I'd only just discovered this quirky gem!) Of course, there are still a few shops that I'm less keen on/don't visit too often but as it goes there are still some worthy places to visit in here! Of course there is Jumbo (again as mentioned prior) - a seriously decent, large, independent music shop which not only houses a proud collection of vinyl but sells most of the best gig tickets for in and around Leeds too.

Whilst this shopping centre isn't the most interesting for indie/unique choice, it has a few damn good things going for it and I'm becoming much more regular visitor. Found is truly a lovely place to go for a browse, housing both vintage and vintage styled goods, indie jewellery and other interesting finds. There's a new toy shop, which seems perfectly timely for Christmas, and it looks to be of a similar theme to The Discovery Store, so should be reasonably interesting! Dare I say it, I'm even becoming a browsing fan of Dorothy Perkins, so all in all I'm getting fonder and fonder of the St. Johns Centre! If nothing else, this would be a good place to start for gift inspiration as the year swiftly comes to a close...

Over the past few years there have been all sorts of wonderful developments in the city centre, we have been blessed with everything from top flight outlets to small, high quality independents and shopping is a real pleasure.

So why has all this improvement and development passed St John's by? It just seems to be a collection of tired businesses, nothing terrible but nothing spectacular either. The only thing above average about the St John's centre is the parking charges (£2.80 an hour), which really are ridiculous and help to ensure that shoppers go elsewhere.

I'm afraid the best thing I could say about this centre is that it is a useful covered walkway on the way to the Merrion Centre.

Leeds is a city with many branches of major brands, it is a city centre with many great shopping centres and shopping streets but honestly St John's is not worth a visit.

The Light Shopping Centre is poor for shops but great for eating and its cinema, gym and hotel however this shopping centre is poor for shopping and dining.

They are only 4 places to eat here, 2 being major brands which have multiple stores in the city centre like Mcdonalds and Subway 2 being local brands. Still this isn't enough to persuade you to eat here, I find the shops do not warrant big names to eat as honestly it would be much better for them to go to places like The Trinity.

Many shops here are not big names, although they is a Warren James, William Hill, Poundland and a Phones4U before they entered administration. You can tell this shopping centre is not doing so great and is a dump as networks like Vodafone have snapped up stores in certain arndales, even my local Middleton Arndale which is like small brand city, which is a really poor shopping centre. Honestly even that is better than this place.

Honestly this place I feel is a waste of a visit, they is little good places to shop and eat, you could barely spend half an hour here, the majority of the shops that might be worth visiting do have other branches elsewhere in Leeds so I really don't think this shopping centre is worth a visit, and the only reason I can think of it being worth a visit, is if you are an emploee here and even then it must be quite boring without the busy crowds of bigger shopping centres and exciting, unique, large shops around you.

Based on all this, I feel this shopping centre is an example of what a shopping centre should try to avoid to be, so it really does deserve one star.

St Johns Centre is fairly small in comparison to other shopping centres in the city such as the White Rose.

It has the usual stores such as Topshop & Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Clinton Cards, Subway and many more. There are 34 stores and eateries placed over two floors in this centre.

If you like shopping in style then give this centre a miss. I think the decor looks quite dirty and depressing but as ever, the shops contents make it. Or in this case, break it.

For more choice, i'd check the main stores out on the city centre streets.

Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday: 8am - 6pm
Sunday: 11am - 5pm
Bank Holiday: 11am - 5pm


This place is comparatively small and I would not call it a mall. There are two stories here. The place does not look modern and you have to pay 20p to use the toilet. However, they have a couple of stores which offer cheap items, which is probably a place you would check out for the credit crunch (i.e. poundland).

Straightforward shopping centre. No frills or gimmicks. Just shops. Isn't that what a shopping centre should be?

In my opinion this 'shopping center' is just a follow on of the mess that it the Merrion center. Straight across the road it doesn't promise anything enticing or desirable. Why Topshop decided to bag a store here I don't know, Topshop I guarantee you in the best store this place has to offer.

The St Johns Centre primarily caters for people looking to shop cheap with a Poundland and cosmetics store that is so cheap it's a bit weird. This centre is in fact always very busy but I tell you its not people flocking here to do some decent shopping, people are probably here to get toilet roll for like 10p or something. I never come here to shop and if I'm walking through it's because it's raining outside. The decor is drab and in serious need of an update, fake plants are not in anymore!

One thing that makes this better than the Merrion centre is Jumbo a record store; this is the place to go to if you're looking for good priced CD's and vinyls. They also sell gig tickets for events around Leeds.

I do not advise this place to anyone with any spec of taste, but it is good for getting out of the harsh weather and having a coffee in McDonalds or something.

St John's clearly used to be quite a well to do opponent for the Merion Centre it sits across the road from.. I suppose it still is competition, but as a whole, both centres probably once were the hip hop and happening undercovered shopping precincts for the masses in Leeds. As times have moved on, as they inevitably do, they now cater for the lower end of the market, littered with lower priced clothing stores and pound shops. I may sound negative, but in actual fact, theres something quite reassuring about having an entire centre devoted to cheaper living, rather than focussing on quality. The typical high street stores such as Dorothy Perkins and Topshop are there, but you can't help but feel that as the years roll by, they're being pushed closer and closer to the back door, till eventually they up sticks and leave, moving to a better location.. The decor is shabby, and hardly inviting, but Rahcael is right when she says it's the shops inside these centres that make or break them.. It's saving grace has to be Jumbo, the independent record shop upstairs, selling gig tickets and records..every cloud, as they say!