Middlebrook is actually pretty good for a retail/leisure park. It has all of the regular big shops…read moreyou'd imagine, selling sofas, carpets etc, as well as some good clothing stores and general shops, plus a large VUE cinema and several restaurants of both the fast-food and dine-in variety. There's also a bowling alley and arcade. It's also great that the plentiful parking is all free, unlike Bolton town centre, and is secured by the (slightly controversial) UKPC. If parking doesn't matter to you, it's easily accessible on foot, and bus services run through it via several bus stops, and the stop at Horwich Parkway Rail Station. It can get congested around match days and the such, as there's only really two ways in and out, and both clog up quite quickly. They also have occasional promo events and activities, such as radio stations broadcasting from there, free kids face painting and character events, petting zoos etc.

middlebrook is a superb retail park with big names such as boots, m&s, a huge asda, vue cinema, the…read morelist goes on. there is loads of free parking but becareful if bolton wanderers are at home on a staurday, it gets so busy. the location isn't ideal for everyone, as it is based in horwich which is close to wigan, sop it can be out of the way for some.

Grand Arcade is a small shopping centre, serving Wigan town centre, considering it serves a small…read moretown, it isn't too bad, they do have a decent selection of brands including WHSmith, Boots, Superdrug, JD, Wilko and Waterstones. Car Parking isn't free, but being in Wigan town centre there is easy public transport access if coming here via train from Wigan Wallgate, or Wigan North Western, and buses also serve nearby. It's modern and clean and I like how they have a statue dedicated to George Formby, a comedian and singer, known for his ukelele, who was born in Wigan. 3* - Not too bad for a small town, but not worth a trip out for.

When the Wigan arcade opened the shops relocated from the main streets leaving many buildings…read moreempty. Then the relocated to the galleries leaving the Wigan arcade 90% empty. Now they have relocated to the new Grand arcade there are many empty properties available in Wigan town centre

The Galleries is a depleated shopping centre in Wigan, near enough everything here is just an empty…read morespace, with most shops moving into the new part. I was surprised to see it so busy really. They is a Works store which is open, but they isn't really anything else. It is quite bare and depressing really and all the worse, this is where all the kids go to hang, messing around on the massage chairs and eveything else. This shopping centre does not even warrant that title anymore hence I think this buiilding is only really a cut through now, somewhere to go when it rains. They is a few more places when you come to the end and I even saw a charity their, but no big names, nothing special. I would not reccomene here when shopping in Wigan, I'd suggest you have a walk around the high street and go in the Grand Arcade as this place doesn't even warrant the title of shopping centre, it barely has anything to do here and it isn't modern. I'm surprised it was so busy to be honest with you, but for me, I feel this is a place to avoid in Wigan, unless you are desperate to go to the works or need to get shelter from the rain (even then I'd suggest going in the grand arcade as they isn't much you can do to spend time here) or just simply cut through from one exit to another.

I visited this place for the first time on Saturday 8th October. You have to pay a small fee for…read morelifetime membership which I didn't mind. The stuff inside is amazing. It varies from genuine antiques to curiosities from your childhood. And there's so much of it. There's even a cheap cafe that serves reasonably good snacks. So, why the one star review I hear you say? That's because the man on the security desk was bigoted, rude and deliberately upset me. I saw something a friend might like but it was in a broken box. There were plenty of others at the same price so I asked if I could swap the plastic case. The security man referred to me using male pronouns while speaking to his colleague then called me sir. At 6' I am tall but I'm not a man and this was just plain rude. Later on I passed him in another area and I held his gaze. He didn't apologise but stared back as though he'd done nothing wrong. If you're physically within the average range for your gender and you want an afternoon of interesting things to look at then go - I bought lots of things to decorate my apartment - though I won't be going back because of the attitude of the security man. What's worse is that after he'd said those things the other two security guards stared at me as though trying to decide if I was a man wearing a skirt!!! If Botany Bay is a sister company then I won't be going there either. It seemed as though these people have never seen a tall woman before.

An old mill converted to a high class shopping market/mall. Unusual gifts and furniture. A sister…read morecompany to Botany Bay which is similar. Only disadvantage is that you have to pay to get in but definitely worth a look especially if you're decorating your house.