Valley Park Retail Area
Valley Park Retail and Leisure Complex is a retail park in the Purley Way retail and industrial area. It is located in the Broad Green area of the London Borough of Croydon. Valley Park was opened in 1992 on the site of the former Croydon power stations, the first of which was built in the late nineteenth century. Croydon B power station was closed in 1984 and the majority of the site cleared in 1991. However the local council ordered the station's landmark chimneys be retained, which almost put IKEA off the site, but a compromise was made that IKEA could paint the top skirt of the tower in their colours (blue and yellow).
Retail park
The retail park is divided into two areas: the bottom half is a long but large modern building which houses the entertainment and leisure area and a small parking lot. The upper half includes larger retail units with a large car park, B&Q and IKEA; both have their own car-parks for customers as well as McDonald's and Burger King.
Retail area
This was a short lived warehouse club called Cargo Club which opened in March 1994 [1]. Cargo Club in Croydon was one of 3 stores in the UK and was owned by Cash and Carry company Nurdin and Peacock with the aim of selling mainly to the general public than newsagents and convenient stores like their cash and carry depots do. Similar near by warehouse clubs were Makro (Opened in April 1982 [2]) and Costco which opened at around the same time as Cargo Club. Ultimately the idea failed to get enough members to pay an annual fee and the company lost money. Nurdin and Peacock were to sell their stores to Sainsbury's as Sava Centre stores but instead this store was sold to a development company who split it in to different stores with DFS as the main anchor store [3]. Valley Park Retail park was completed in 1996 [4]
The retail area is the main shopping park and includes big name stores such as DFS, which has operated on the same site since 1996. A branch of Philip Green's Arcadia Group Outfit chain is located in the park. Other stores include Sports Direct, Next, Boots and B&Q. B&Q's store is in a separate warehouse and has its own car park.
Leisure park
The leisure park opened in late 1995/early 1996 with Megabowl and Ritz Bingo Hall. The entertainment area of Valley Park is located behind the IKEA and retail areas. One of two Vue Cinemas is located in Valley Park (the other being located at Croydon Grants). Other facilities include Tenpin, a 25 lane bowling alley, complete with games arcade. Restaurants include a Frankie & Benny's, Nandos, Bella Italia, Subway, Pizza Express and McDonald's and Burger King restaurants and drive-thru and Cosmo. A Gym 4 All is situated on the first floor.