The Potteries Shopping Centre is an indoor shopping centre in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. It is the major indoor shopping centre in the city. The town of Hanley is generally regarded as the commercial city centre of Stoke-on-Trent.

Current plans are to give the Centre a multi-million pound expansion.

The current shopping centre

The centre has 561000 sq ft (52,118.6 m²) of retail space with 87 units including a Debenhams

Debenhams

Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...

 anchor store

Anchor store

In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....

, (formerly Lewis's

Lewis's

Lewis's was a large department store in Liverpool city centre. It was formerly the flagship of a chain of department stores under the Lewis's name, that operated from 1856 to 1991, when the company went into administration. Several stores in the chain were bought by the company Owen Owen and...

) and major stores for Next, New Look

New Look (store)

New Look is a British global fashion retailer with a chain of high street shops in Britain, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.-History:...

, Monsoon

Monsoon Stores Ltd

Monsoon Accessorize is a design-led retailer based in London operating two international retail clothing chains - Monsoon and Accessorize.- History :...

, Gap

Gap (clothing retailer)

The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...

, HMV

HMV

His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...

, Game

GAME (retailer)

The Game Group plc is a British video games retail company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index....

, River Island

River Island

River Island is one of Britain's best known high street fashion brands and can be found in most cities across the UK. The brand also has stores in Singapore, Turkey, Poland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the Middle East.-History:...

, H. Samuel

H. Samuel

H. Samuel is a mass-market jewellery chain, operating in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is the number one middle mass-market jewellery store in the United Kingdom. There are 375 stores as at 23rd Feb 2008. An increasing number of the chain's stores trade in a new format known...

, La Senza

La Senza

La Senza Corporation is a Canadian fashion retailer based in Dorval, Quebec, Canada, which sells lingerie and intimate apparel. The La Senza brand is currently owned by Limited Brands.- History :...

, Disney store and Primark

Primark

Primark is a clothing retailer, operating over 223 stores in Ireland , the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium...

. Other facilities include a 1,240 space car park and a 37000 sq ft (3,437.4 m²) market hall.

Some 750,000 people live within a 30 minute drive of the centre, which opened in 1988 and attracts visitors mainly from North Staffordshire

North Staffordshire

North Staffordshire describes an area of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It contains the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire Moorlands and the City of Stoke-on-Trent. The Stoke and Newcastle areas make up The Potteries Urban Area, whilst the Moorlands are largely...

 and South Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

.

History

Prior to the shopping centre, The Old Recreation Ground

The Old Recreation Ground

The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium, located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and home to Port Vale for almost 40 years. The Rec had been Vale's home between 1913 and 1950 and was the sixth ground the club used.-Structure and facilities:...

 was located on the site, home ground of Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

 between 1913 and 1950. Following the decision by the city council to construct the shopping centre on what was council land the team moved to its current home at Vale Park

Vale Park

Vale Park is a football stadium in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is the home ground of Port Vale F.C., who have played at the ground since 1950....

.