John Lewis Brent Cross: Opening

The front cover of the Gazette captures the queues forming outside of the newly opened John Lewis Brent Cross
A guide to shopping at Brent Cross Shopping Centre

First London based Partnership store in over 30 years

On 9th March 1976, John Lewis Brent Cross and the Brent Cross Shopping Centre opened its doors to the public. It was 10 years since the initial ideas were first mooted, but it was immediately apparent that the wait had been entirely worth it. The first new London-based Partnership store since World War Two was an instant success.

Comments about this page

  • I remember those opening days well! I worked in Haberdashery and one of my jobs was re stocking the metal lampshade frames. It was a dangerous process and I used to get multiple shocks! Come to think of it looking back I’m sure that’s what caused my hair to fall out!
    Probably too late to make a claim now.
    Happy days though and unbelievable to think that’s over 46 years ago. I’m only in my 40’s now!!

    By Simon Shoebottom (20/09/2022)
  • The fountain was always our meeting point if any of us kids became separated from our parents. I miss the old 70s décor but Brent Cross will always remain my favourite shopping centre. So many good ‘shopping’ memories spent with family members that are sadly no longer with us.

    By Claudia (08/09/2021)
  • I remember the fountain and that beautiful rainbow tiled roof.

    By Claire (12/07/2020)
  • One of the most memorable things about the early days at Brent Cross was the “lovely” brown carpet. It had a capacity to build up static electricity on customers’ shoes and when they approached the handrail of the escalators frequently received a static shock. The same thing happened in the changing rooms where trying on clothes sometimes resulted in ladies’ hair becoming so charged with static electricity they left the changing rooms with their hair at 90 degrees to their head!

    By Judy Faraday (26/09/2014)

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