The Mercat Shopping Centre is located in Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...

, the largest town in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The Mercat has three anchor stores; Marks and Spencer, Bhs

Bhs

BHS Limited is a British department store chain with branches mainly located in high street locations, primarily selling clothing and household items such as bedlinen, cutlery, crockery and lighting. The company has 187 stores throughout the United Kingdom...

 and TK Maxx. The Mercat - including surrounding areas - accounts for at least 30% of all the floorspace in Kirkcaldy town centre, which in total is 46000 square metres (495,139.9 sq ft) and providing as much as 200 shops, making Kirkcaldy the largest shopping area in Fife.

The shopping centre was built in two phases between 1972 and 1981-83 with a refurbishment completed in 1997. A proposal to extend the shopping centre for a third phase is pending.

The site has been owned by City Site Estates since 2005 after being disposed of by GA Capital who bought over previous owners, Haslemere Estates Management Ltd.

History

Kirkcaldy Town council considered a controversial redevelopment of Kirkcaldy town centre in January 1964, which was only passed by a narrow margin, after a fiercely contested public inquiry. A plot of land situated between the High Street and the Esplanade was purchased in April 1964 for demolition as the new site of the shopping centre. Four Streets consisting of Market, Cowie, Rose and Thistle were all lost.

First phase

Construction of the shopping centre was supposed to commence building work in Autumn 1967, but the project was delayed until the early 1970s.
Work finally began on the first phase of The Mercat in 1971 - and buildings numbered from 94-112 in the High Street including the birth place of Adam Smith, were demolished.
This was to contain initially 29 units, a major department store and one multi-storey car park

Multi-storey car park

A multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...

- for completion in 1972.

Second phase

The success of the Mercat, prompted an extension which was given the green light in 1978. The extension dubbed "Mercat II" was built, alongside a second multi-storey car park, by Michael Laird and Partners between 1981 and 1983. The Car Park, despite only been two storey, was known for presenting a deep roof, identical dormers and separated wrought-iron inserts on the wall.

Third phase proposal

A second extension for the Mercat is being planned to be built at the earliest opportunity if permission is granted by Fife Council. This would result in the demolition of either or both of The Mercat and Thistle Street Car Parks so the centre can expand over the site, or a possible refurbishment. This could significantly boost Kirkcaldy's current shopping facilities.