The History of the Merrion Centre
A city within a city
When the Merrion Centre opened in 1964 it was the biggest of its kind in the UK, and it changed the face of retail in Leeds. It brought shopping by day and entertainment by night together in one place, and more than 60 years on it is Leeds’ longest-standing shopping centre.
From ballroom to bowling, films to flying machines, here are some of the moments that made the Merrion.
- Opened
- 26 May 1964
- Founded by
- Arnold Ziff
- Owned by
- Town Centre Securities PLC
Merrion Centre: 60 years at the heart of Leeds, made for our 2024 anniversary exhibition.
The story · 1
1960s: building the Merrion Centre
1962 – 1963
Breaking ground
Arnold Ziff founded Town Centre Securities in 1959. He saw the powerful combination of shopping during the day with entertainment and attractions in the evening as the opportunity to change the face of retail.
The foundations went in during the summer of 1962. Builders dug out 68,000 cubic yards of earth and rock, enough to fill the 13-storey Wade House around one and a half times, and the finished buildings weigh 42,000 tons, not counting the car park.
26 May 1964
Opening day
Arnold Ziff asked his wife, Marjorie, to mark her 35th birthday by opening his new £6 million Merrion Centre in front of more than 1,000 invited guests. The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Mrs Lizzie Naylor, presided in her first official engagement and presented Marjorie with a specially cut golden key. Every guest received a commemorative golden coin.
The Yorkshire Evening Post called it “M-Day in Leeds”: M for the multi-million Merrion Centre, and very much M for Marjorie.
26 May 1964
The opening ceremonyCrowds packed the open-air mall and balconies for the speeches.
1964 onwards
A night out at the Merrion
The Merrion has always been a hotspot for Leeds nightlife. The bowling alley on Merrion Way opened with the centre and, with 42 lanes, was one of the biggest in Britain. At the height of bowling’s popularity its competitions were televised into homes across the UK. It still bowls today as Tenpin.
The Locarno Ballroom also opened in 1964 and, over the years, became Tiffany’s, Ritzy’s, Oceana, PRYZM and now Mint XL. Oceana, one of the city’s first “super clubs”, welcomed over 4.5 million customers between 2004 and 2014.
1964
A city within a city“Having more than 150 tenants and the largest car park in Great Britain for over 1,100 cars, the Merrion Centre qualifies as a city-within-a-city.” Arnold Ziff, 1964
1964
The Mecca LocarnoThe ballroom opened with the centre, and its Saturday club for Leeds teenagers danced to the Beatles and the Animals. On the left, Stylo shoes, a Ziff family business.
1964 – 1977
The OdeonOpened on 17 August 1964, just weeks after the centre. When it closed in 1977, its last film was Gone With the Wind.
1966 – 2012
The Merrion HotelThe hotel opened on Wade Lane in January 1966 with 109 rooms, popular with business travellers, and closed in 2012. After a full redevelopment it reopened in 2017 as the 134-bedroom ibis Styles Leeds City Centre Arena.
1960s – today
The Emett Machines
Arnold Ziff became close friends with cartoonist and inventor Rowland Emett. Emett’s Flying Kite machine went on permanent display in a glass cabinet in the centre, and was set going every 30 minutes for generations of visitors.
“I used to love watching the crowds watching the machines, because there would never be a face without a smile,” remembers Edward Ziff.
Seven of the Emett Machines are back on show today. See the Emett Machines
The story · 2
1970s to 2000s: a growing centre
1970s – today
A supermarket in the square
A major step forward came with the opening of a 40,000 sq ft Morrisons supermarket, overlooking what was then an open-air square planted with trees. Morrisons is still here today.
The main mall was originally open to the air. A roof was added in the 1970s, so shoppers could be protected from the British weather. As shoppers John and Marjorie remembered: “it were that windy that nobody came. So somebody said ‘Put a roof on it’, and people started coming then.”
1 December 1972 – today
Merrion House
Merrion House, known as “Stage 5” of the development, officially opened in 1972. It was designed for the West Riding County Council, and after the 1974 reorganisation of local councils Leeds took over the building, which it has occupied ever since.
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Albert Smith, joined Arnold Ziff for the opening. Dr Edward Ziff OBE, still Chairman and Chief Executive of Town Centre Securities PLC today, remembers his father smoothing the last of the concrete with a trowel, and stepping into it to leave a footprint that is still there today. He still keeps the trowel in a glass cabinet in his office.
Arnold Ziff and a young Edward Ziff lay the last of the concrete for Merrion House.
1970s – 1980s
Tiffany’sA key live music venue: Brotherhood of Man played before their Eurovision win, and in the post-punk days OMD, Madness and even a fledgling U2 took the stage.
1979 – 2005
Le PhonographiqueTucked away at the bottom of a staircase inside the centre, “the Phono” was home to punks, goths and rockers. The Clash played an impromptu gig there in 1985, and Marc Almond is said to have DJed.
2006
Under the glass roofDecades after the roof went on, the main mall in 2006, with the Flying Kite still in its cabinet beside the escalators.The story · 3
2014 to today: a new chapter
2014 – 2018
Fifty years and a new chapter
The Merrion Centre celebrated its 50th birthday on 26 May 2014, during a £50m transformation. The Arena Quarter leisure area opened beside the new first direct bank arena, and an £8m refurbishment turned the multi-storey car park into CitiPark, relaunched with a fireworks display.
Merrion House was rebuilt and extended, and between February and May 2018 nearly 2,200 council staff moved back into its 170,000 sq ft of offices and city centre hub.
CitiPark and the Arena Quarter lit up at night.
2019 – 2024
55 and 60 years
In 2019 Marjorie Ziff, then 90, opened the 55th anniversary exhibition holding the same golden key she had used in 1964.
For the diamond anniversary in 2024, her son Edward Ziff, Chairman and Chief Executive of Town Centre Securities PLC, opened the “Merrion Through the Years” exhibition with that same key, and the original Flying Kite returned to the main mall.
Marjorie Ziff with the golden key at the 55th anniversary exhibition, 2019.
Today
Still at the heart of Leeds
More than 60 years on, the Merrion Centre is still a city within a city: food from 15 countries, independent businesses beside the national names, and an Arena Quarter, surrounded by offices and student homes, that is busy from breakfast to the early hours.
It also hosts Leeds city centre’s largest Chinese New Year celebration, which drew more than 41,500 people over two days in 2026. Read more
Chinese New Year on the main mall, February 2026.
Students are a big part of its life too: start-of-term footfall topped 415,000 in 2024, and more than 475 students won prizes at the 2026 Freshers challenge. Read more
Today the Merrion estate covers around 1 million sq ft, welcomed around 9 million visitors in 2025, and is still owned by Town Centre Securities, with the Ziff family at its helm.
Whirl to Win, the Merrion Centre’s Freshers challenge, September 2026.
Spotlight
Then and now: street by street
The Merrion has never stood still. Here’s how each side of the centre has changed, from the archive photos to the same streets today.
The main mall
Once open to the sky, the main mall gained its roof in the 1970s. Today the same space hosts events all year round.
Merrion Street
In 1962 the nightclub site on the corner was still a concrete frame. By 2004 it was Ritzy’s, next to the ever-popular Edwards bar, and today the corner is home to restaurants and karaoke. The PRYZM sign in this photo has since given way to Mint XL.
In the 1980s, Top Cats nightclub stood on the corner of Merrion Street and Wade Lane alongside P.K. Chemists and a news stand. Today the street has a new façade and black granite frontage, with national brands and independents side by side.
Merrion Way
Before any redevelopment, Merrion Way was lined with canopied shopfronts under the original Town Centre Car Park. Since the first direct bank arena opened opposite in 2013, it has become a busy strip of restaurants beneath the new CitiPark.
The Merrion Centre Superstore was fronted by mosaics by artist Eric Taylor (1909–1999), former Principal of Leeds College of Art. When the centre was refurbished they were restored and moved to Leeds Arts University. The same corner is now the 24-hour PureGym, over two floors.
Wade Lane
The hexagon-shaped General Wade pub was named after Field Marshal George Wade, who camped his troops on Woodhouse Moor in 1745. Behind it, a sign on the car park pointed the way to the bowling alley. Today the pub’s site is home to Estábulo, with the ibis Styles Leeds City Centre Arena and CitiPark behind.
Woodhouse Lane
In 2004 the Woodhouse Lane side still had the original Town Centre House offices above a bank and a newspaper stand. Town Centre House was given a new façade and upgraded interiors from 2010, and the entrance below now has floor-to-ceiling glass and new cafés.
Share your story
Do you have a Merrion memory?
Nights at the Locarno, Saturdays at the bowling alley, Christmas on the main mall? We’d love to see your photos and hear your stories. Share them with us using
#MCmemories
Here’s to the next 60 years of shopping, eating, drinking and being Merrion!