This
shopping area is substantially less busy than its competitors in
Croydon, Centrale, the
Whitgift
Centre and Surrey Street Market. This is partly because the parade doesn't
house any well-known chains other than a branch of discount
clothing retailer Madhouse.
There was
a plan to tear down St George's Walk by 2011 and replace it with
the new Park
Place shopping centre which would span from North End to Queen's
Gardens. There had been little local opposition, but
the owners of the shops facing eviction weren't offered places in
the new shopping centre proposed by Minerva
plc. Croydon Council terminated the scheme in May 2009 due to
planning permission having lapsed on the venture and concerns over
funding, and a new redevelopment scheme to attract retailer John
Lewis to the town was being investigated.