The last remaining major retailer in the Piazza shopping centre – Boots – is staying in Huddersfield.

The Piazza centre is going to be demolished as part of Kirklees Council’s £262 million Our Cultural Heart regeneration scheme.

WH Smith shut its store in May 2024 when its lease expired. WH Smith decided not to re-locate elsewhere in the town centre – however Boots is staying.

The company has confirmed it will move from King Street to the Kingsgate Centre in Spring 2026.

The Boots logo has already appeared on the shutters of a unit at the side of Next in the Kingsgate Centre.

 

 

A spokesman for Boots said: “Boots will relocate the Boots King Street store in Spring 2026 as part of the Huddersfield town centre redevelopment plan.”

Huddersfield Hub understands that it’s the main store and the pharmacy which will move. No new location has yet been found for Boots Opticians, though that will need a smaller unit and the search may not begin until 2025.

The Our Cultural Heart scheme is being phased so work on the Piazza site could be some years away.

Phase 1 to create a food hall, a new library and an events square is currently underway. Phase 2 is likely to be a new museum and art gallery in the old Huddersfield Library building, which may not be ready to open until 2029.

Phase 3 will be the development of a vacant plot in Queen Street, which may be a hotel or flats. Phase 4 will be an urban park with Phase 5 a music and events venue with multi-storey car park, on the site of the demolished former multi-storey.

 

 

New plans for Huddersfield Museum & Art Gallery with updated timescales for Our Cultural Heart