Royal Exchange, Shopping center in St Ann's Square, Manchester, England
The Royal Exchange is a shopping center in St Ann's Square, Manchester, bringing together more than 30 shops across several levels under a high ceiling structure. The sandstone facade with large arches and columns stands beside a theatre in the courtyard, housed in a self-contained module.
Bradshaw Gass & Hope designed the building in 1867 as a trading exchange for the cotton trade, when Manchester was the center of the textile industry. After trade declined, the building opened as a shopping center in 1976, while the theatre moved into a new freestanding structure in the courtyard in 1976.
The name recalls the time when merchants gathered here to trade cotton and other goods, long before shops moved in. The theatre inside plays around a stage that stands free in the room and is surrounded by audiences on all sides.
The shops open from Monday to Saturday, with exact times varying slightly depending on the store. Access is through several entrances around St Ann's Square, and lifts connect the different levels.
Arthur Kay Jewellers has been working here for over 125 years and is the oldest shop operating continuously in the building. The shop carries on its tradition in the same location, even though everything around it has changed.
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