Edinburgh's St James Quarter shopping centre opens

The shopping gallery is on four storeys and has a glass roof

After five years of construction, Edinburgh's largest development in a generation, opens its four-storey shopping centre.

St James Quarter, at the east end of Princes Street, has Edinburgh's first Lego shop, Peloton and restaurants such as Salerno Pizza.

Harrods is due to open a beauty store in the next few weeks.

The £1bn development replaced the 1960s St James Centre and the New St Andrews House office block.

Thousands are expected to flock to the new centre, bringing a much needed boost to the city centre as Covid restrictions ease.

More than 40 retailers including brands in Scotland for the first time, such as & Other Stories, Stradivarius, Bershka, and Pull&Bear will be opening their doors at 09:00.

Edinburgh's first Lego shop is in St James Quarter

A further 40 shops will open over the coming weeks.

Martin Perry, director of development for St James Quarter, told BBC Scotland he did not want the development to pull shoppers away from other retailers in the city centre.

He said: "There is a glass roof here so people don't get wet but there are no doors at either end.

"We want people to do a circuit of the city centre when they come here. We have purposely designed it so that people move through the city.

"We have invested in the city centre because we believe the future in shopping lies in city centres rather than out of town or online."

The shopping centre in the St James Quarter has no doors on each end

Erica Moore, owner of Eteaket at the west end of the city centre, said she hoped the arrival of such a big shopping development would be positive for small retailers.

She said: "It's a good draw for Edinburgh as a whole to keep the capital as a world class leading city centre.

"But there is the danger that as more and more developments are happening at that side of town, footfall is pulled away from this end of town.

"I think we need to be careful and watch we don't lose too many businesses."

Cocktail bar The Alchemist is to open in the centre in July along with Black Sheep Coffee, Sushi Samba and Joelato.

The Scottish foodhall, Bonnie & Wild as well as Bross Bagels, The Kooples and Aeronautica will also open next month.

More than 40 retailers are opening on Thursday at St James Quarter

A five-screen Everyman Cinema is due to open later in the year.

The 244 bedroom W Hotel, also known as the Walnut Whip, which is attached to the shopping centre will open next year.

A 75-room Roomzzz Aparthotel and 152 apartments at the development will open during future phases.

Another 40 retailers will open in St James Quarter in July

Ewan MacDonald-Russell of the Scottish Retail Consortium told BBC Scotland: "I really think the high street has been battered by the Covid pandemic.

"The big challenge now for city centres is how we attract people back, which is going to be easier for Edinburgh and Glasgow, which have a lot of exciting reasons to visit."

Prof Leigh Sparkes, retail expert at Stirling University, said: "Retail is going through a major transformation generally and has been for quite a while.

"The pandemic has accelerated and enhanced that so now it's a question of what do we value, what do we bring back."