The Gyle Shopping Centre is a large retail mall at South Gyle in W Edinburgh, situated a quarter-mile (0.4 km) east southeast of Gogar roundabout and 4½ miles (7 km) west of the city centre. Opened in 1993, the centre occupies a 20.2-ha (50-acre) site and began as a joint venture between the City of Edinburgh Council, and the anchor stores of Marks & Spencer and Safeway. It cost £68 million and extends to some 55,742 sq. m (600,000 sq. feet), employing around 2000 staff across 70 retail outlets, including a food court which was completed in 1994. William Morrison Supermarkets has replaced Safeway but this remains the largest Marks & Spencer store in Edinburgh. In 1997, Marks & Spencer bought out its development partners to become the sole owner of the centre, selling it to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), Britain's second-largest pension provider, in 2000. The centre was purchased by the Belfast-based William Ewart Properties in 2006.
An immense car park at the front of the centre provides space for 2500 vehicles, its entrance marked by a huge slab of rock brought from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco that contains fossilised sea creatures. The theme of water is repeated in public art works, such as a river of stones created by Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925 - 2006) and a bus shelter with glass engraved by Julie Ross to suggests fish swimming in an ocean or leaves swirling in the wind. Further artworks include a fossil tree by Bill Scott and a concrete jungle by Alan Watson.
The Gyle has its own stop on the Edinburgh Tram Line, which opened in 2014.
