The Central Arcade is one of the most beautiful architectural features in the whole of Newcastle. This gorgeous Edwardian arcade – built in 1906 to a design by Oswald & Sons – is housed in the equally impressive Central Exchange building, which was built by Richard Grainger in the mid-1830s.
The building was intended as a corn exchange but actually started out as a newsroom and then a gallery and theatre before being gutted by a fire in 1901, and eventually reborn as the arcade we know and love today.
Alongside from the stores that call Central Arcade itself home, there's plenty to visit around it in the Central Exchange building too, so we thought we'd introduce you to what's on offer - from shopping and food to accomodation.
Shopping
JG Windows has been in the arcade since the very beginning and is the biggest store inside the building. It's been a key destination for musicians for over 100 years, with a vast selection of instruments, equipment, sheet music, vinyl and CDs.
Just opposite, 1Lux is an exclusive fashion outlet (one of two branches) that specialises in limited edition clothes and footwear – think the latest Yeezy or Nike drops – and offers a sourcing service for those especially hard to find items.
Also making sure you’re properly shod with the latest trainer and streetwear styles is Size?, a fashion footwear and apparel retailer with almost 25 years experience. You’ll find all the coolest brands, from Converse to Carhartt, often in the newest and most exclusive styles.
And there’s also Waceland, a family-run business stocking carefully selected vintage and streetwear clothes, footwear and a range of unique Newcastle United merch too. An excellent place to pick up used denim!
If it’s stationery not kicks that you’re after, head to Scribbler - the Newcastle branch of the nationwide chain offering gifts, cards and wrapping paper. You’ll find everything from books to games, party decorations to chocolate gift boxes in this bright and lively shop.
Food
The Arcade is bursting with great places to eat – from the formal to the casual, take out or dine in. There’s Flore, for example, a café and patisserie that bring a little slice of Paris to the heart of the city. From great coffee and pastries to light bites and breakfasts (breakfast burritos, anyone?!), Flore packs a delicate Parisian punch.
Newly opened and offering something from the other side of the world, Island Poke is the first non-London outpost (or ‘island’) for this booming chain. They serve poke bowls – fresh and vibrant combos of protein, salads and toppings that are packed with flavour and health-giving properties.
Also promising to make you eat well and live better is The Naked Deli, the city centre branch of the local business that makes a point of offering food that is entirely free of processed ingredients, E numbers or any of that stuff. Their food and drinks – everything from bowls and burgers to wraps and shakes – promises instead to be clean, healthy, nutritious and delicious.
The Flower Café looks as lovely as it sounds: pink, floral and quirky. The food is simple but tasty – pizzas, salads, sharers, toasties – and the drinks menu offers plenty of cocktails and fizz among the coffees and cold drinks.
Société Café Bar is perfectly placed for people watching, just at the foot of Grey’s Monument, and like Flower Café keeps it simple – pizzas, breakfasts, sandwiches, coffee and cocktails. There’s a bottomless brunch too that's perfect for mate dates.
Café Andaluz is a prominently positioned and spacious – yet still intimate – Spanish restaurant that really does bring a slice of Andalusia into NE1. It's primarily focussed on tapas of course, but there’s also some appealing paellas, sides and desserts.
Part of a large and successful chain, Cote Brasserie has a long and authentically French set of menus for every occasion, with the bistro basics – French Onion Soup, Steak Tartare – alongside more unusual offerings like Squash Tabbouleh and Quiche Aux Champignons.
Bringing sushi and other Japanese delicacies to the lunchtime crowd, for delivery, takeaway or to eat in, Nudo Sushi Box keeps it healthy, tasty and ethical. There’s a range of sushi boxes, bowls, soups and sides and a good range of veggie options too.
And of course, we mustn’t forget Greggs – pride of Tyneside, home of the Christmas Bake and all-round snack king of Newcastle. The Central Arcade branch is just one of many in the city and has all the flaky tasty goodness you need.
…And More
The Central Arcade and its surrounds are well served with all manner of other businesses and services too. For example, there’s Max Spielmann for all your photographic needs. They’ll develop and print film, take your passport photos, turn your holiday snaps into all sorts of gifts and generally do everything you’d expect from an old school photography shop.
To make sure the photos look good, you might need to get your eyes tested or get kitted out with some snazzy new specs, and Grey Street Optician has you covered. This stylish opticians has been providing the latest frames and an excellent service for almost twenty years.
And since you’ve got your eyes looking lovely with some new glasses, you might as well pop into Cover Beauty for one of their many treatments. This salon offers everything from waxing and threading to facials and mani-pedis. They do men’s grooming too.
If you’re a vaper, Refill Station really is a treasure trove of liquids – in a dizzying array of flavours – and disposables, as well as all the accessories you need, from coils to batteries, chargers to tanks. They stock CBD products too.
And finally, if all of this has convinced you that you need to spend more time around the Central Arcade, why not investigate 93a Grey Street Apartments, the increasingly popular alternative to hotels: self-contained apartments for varying numbers of guests right in the very heart of the city in the Central Exhange building.
Newcastle's Central Arcade has everything going for it – a none-more-central location, beautiful architecture and a brilliant range of shops, restaurants and more. You could spend hours without leaving the arcade and its buildings. So next time you need a jazz album, some new kicks, some moules mariniere or some authentic tapas, head to the arcade.
