Derby City Centre is quite compact with much of the central area a pedestrianised zone making shopping quite easy.
There are a good range of High Street stores lining the Victorian buildings of pedestrianised Cornmarket and Victoria Street. Babington Buildings on nearby St Peter’s Street houses a large Waterstones bookshop.
Sadler Gate and Iron Gate are lined with 16th-century buildings and boast numerous gift shops, clothes shops, pubs and restaurants.
The Derbion Shopping Centre opened in October 2007 replacing the former Eagle Centre. Open every day, Derbion is an all-weather shopping mall, located off St Peter’s Street and London Road. It has changed the face of the Derby’s shopping centre attracting many visitors from out of town. The new centre houses over 100 new shops, a food court capable of seating 800 people and an additional 2,000 parking spaces.
There are several Markets. At the foot of Iron Gate is Market Hall, which houses an indoor market (open Monday to Saturday) selling clothes, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and sweets. In the Lock Up Yard off the Cornmarket can be found a fresh fish market.
Another indoor market is in the Eagle Centre itself. Both these markets are open Monday to Saturday. A farmers’ market is held in Market Place on the third Thursday of every month and a Continental market on several occasions throughout the year.
Major stores can be found at retail parks on the outskirts of the city centre. These are the Wyvern centre, the Kingway Retail Park, Forester’s Park and the Meteor Centre. As well as supermarkets, electrical goods, furniture and DIY, these centres also provide other amenities. The Meteor Centre and Forester’s both have multi-screen cinemas and fast food outlets.
If you are looking for stores selling Asian and other multi cultural goods try the Normanton part of Derby where there is a vast array of ethnic foods and goods on offer as well as a multitude of ethnic restaurants.
Car Showrooms tend to be on the outskirts of the city with several dotted around the Pentagon Island, the Sir Frank Whittle Road area and Pride Park.