THE Glades Shopping Centre is to change its name to intu Bromley, as owner Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) bids to create a national brand to rival Westfield.

The rebrand will see 12 of CSC's shopping centres across the country given the prefix intu, at the cost of £25million.

It will include the introduction of free wi-fi at centres and the launch of a retail website intu.co.uk.

CSC itself will change its name to 'intu properties plc' on February 18, while intu.co.uk will be launched in April and the intu brand will be introduced to shopping centres from May.

General manager for The Glades, Howard Oldstein, said: "We very much look forward to implementing these initiatives which mark an exciting next phase in the evolution of our shopping centre."

What does the public think?

It remains to be seen whether the intu name sticks, but the change brings to mind a number of corporate rebranding disasters of recent years.

Who could forget Newcastle United chairman Mike Ashley's decision to rename St James' Park The Sports Direct Arena, much to the exasperation of every Newcastle fan alive, or Royal Mail's ill-fated attempt to defy a 366-year history and change its name to Consignia in 2001?

What about when the famous Sears Tower in Chicago, once the tallest building in the world, became the Willis Tower at the request of London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd., a name which inevitably never stuck?

Twitter response

On Twitter the response has been one of bewilderment, with Serenity Hair Beauty saying: "That's just wrong. Surely they could have come up with something better than that?"

Emma Bat responded: "Wow, ick!" while Claire Griffiths descibed the decision as "laughable."

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