Conflict over Centrecourt

Controversy sparked due to the recent renaming of the shopping centre in Wimbledon.

The familiar ‘Wimbledon Centrecourt’ sign and brand has been replaced with the new ‘Wimbledon Quarter’.

Many frequent visitors to this shopping centre, situated right beside Wimbledon Station, have complained about the apparently unprompted change.

The change has also been the focus of a barrage of questions, the most prevalent being, what does the new name mean?

Sydney Forster said the first thought she had when learning of the change had been, “A quarter of what? Why did we change the name to something so ambiguous?”

Indeed, the previous name held a deep affinity with the town’s famous tennis tournament, with its namesake attracting a record 532,651 guests in 2023’s recent competition, an increase of more than 17,000 from the 2022 Championships.

This alone would surely be a reason to keep this iconic name as a homage to the competition, but alas, it is not.

Poppy Boyd, a Wimbledon resident for her whole life, said: “It’s Centrecourt, you know? Why would they change it to Wimbledon Quarter?

“Everyone knows it as Centrecourt, so why bother changing it to something that sounds like a block of cheese?”

It’s only when looking further into the change that it becomes apparent that this is part of a bigger rebranding. It states that it aims to transform into a ‘local neighbourhood hub’, by inviting new shops into the premises that engage their customers to shop, eat, train and work.

However, many think that this may be targeted at the wrong audience.

Centrecourt was seen by many to be a place for the younger generation to shop and provided a space for teens to come together in their local area.

The new shops seem to target a different demographic: the more sophisticated workers of Wimbledon.

There has also been lots of excitement surrounding the rebranding of this space. Others in the community were happy to see the shopping centre get the revamp many thought it needed.

“It’s such an important part of Wimbledon, it’s really great that they’re doing it up,” said Ava Porter.

Many share her opinion and are looking forward to seeing it all restored back in its former glory.

Although some of the new shops are open, the space is still not up and running, and despite the conflict, the wider community is excited to see the whole space open again.