Today I am happy to announce that I have been chosen to be the intu Uxbridge Retailologist! Back in May, intu Uxbridge were on the lookout for a specialist blogger to write about everything retail, and to apply I had to write a short blog post on a shopping, eating or cinema experience – of course I wrote two haha. I wrote about our dinner and movie night at Wagamamas and the Odeon, and about Tyler’s Toddler Tour of intu Uxbridge (it’s super cute!)

I am so happy to represent them, as Uxbridge is my hometown and I love shopping there! Having lived in Uxbridge for 30 years, I remember the days when there were no department stores there (apart from Woolworths and Owen Owen), so my parents would drive to Slough (yes Slough!), Ealing or Harrow for a shopping day out, just to get to a C&A, Littlewoods or a BHS. That was back in the 80s and 90s, and half those stores don’t exist anymore!

Move forward to 2001, and I was working at Birthdays on Uxbridge High Street, forever looking out of the window, and I had literally watched this new shopping centre being built. It was called The Chimes (in reference to the ringing of bells in the past – I read that somewhere). It was so exciting, we were finally going to get a Debenhams and a BHS – department stores! When it was finally ready, I watched five major stores move out of the Pavillions shopping centre and into the new one – Next, New Look, Boots, River Island, Dorothy Perkins – their staff pushing crates of stock across the road!

It was brilliant having this new shopping centre, Uxbridge was now a destination shopping town. There were more places to eat and have coffee, as well as the huge new Odeon – it was like being in a new town! Late night shopping on Thursday after work became a regular activity for me, as well as relaxing with a latte in the Starbucks which overlooks the centre – great for people-watching 🙂

2 years ago, the shopping centre was renamed ‘intu Uxbridge’ and has seriously improved since then, with more events and quirky bits inside the centre, like the self-playing piano and the juke box by Debenhams, as well as introducing comfy sofas and improved loos. It’s all good!

Now, if you’re a Londoner, you may remember when Beanotown came to the Southbank Centre in the summer of 2013. It was soooo cool, Tyler had just turned 1 then and had a great time waddling around (that’s him with my sister in the photo).

Well this year Beano is coming to Uxbridge – woohoo! The Beano takeover at intu Uxbridge is running now until Saturday 16th August, with the centre being taken over by Dennis the Menace and his Beano friends. There’s lots of FREE activities taking place, including:

Today until 5pm : School Yard Games
Fri 31st July, 10.30am, 1pm, 3pm : Beano Comic Book Masterclass (For children aged 7+)
Sat 1st Aug, 11am-5pm : Graffiti Workshops
Sun 2nd – Mon 3rd Aug, 11am–5pm : Nursery Rhymes & Games
Tues 4th – Fri 7th Aug, 11am – 5pm : Beano Colouring Fun
Sat 8th – Sun 9th Aug, 11am-5pm : The Prank Academy
Mon 10th – Thurs 13th Aug, 11am-5pm : Joke Wall
Fri 14th Aug, 11am-5pm : Dennis the Menace visits!
Sat 15th Aug, 11am-5pm : Cartoon Workshops

Address: intu Uxbridge, High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1LA
(next to Uxbridge Tube and Bus station)

Tyler and I will be checking it out next week, we do love colouring in, and maybe I’ll do a spot of shopping too 😉 I shall keep you updated!

Sabrina x

Please note: I have not been paid to write this post, it’s just my announcement and I genuinely love Uxbridge!