Ladies only gym Curves and maths and English tuition service Explore Learning are the latest two firms to announce they will open in the Willow Brook Centre.

Both are due to open in January in the Bradley Stoke centre which is due to open on Monday, 13 October 2008.

Previously announced stores include Carphone Warehouse, 02, Greggs, Shoe Zone and Brantano.

Scott Lahive, Willow Brook Centre manager, said: “We want to make Willow Brook a true town centre, with a wide range of goods and services.

“The latest tranche of businesses which have committed to come here shows we are achieving that goal. Above all, the quality and diversity of these shops is great news for local people.”

• For a full list of shops opening in the new centre click here

The keys to the new Tesco Extra store in Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre have been handed over to the store’s new manager.

Oliver Hill (pictured, centre), manager of the 92,000 sq ft store, and customer service manager Matt Hill (left), received the keys from Craig Slater (right) of construction company Bowman and Kirkland.

The shop is due to open alongside phase one of the Willow Brook Centre on Monday, 13 October 2008 at 9am.

Mr Hill said: “We can’t wait to open now. Customers have been really patient as the store has been built and we look forward to giving Bradley Stoke a new store of which everyone can be very proud.”

The firm has also revealed a line-up of events over the next month including a family fun day on October 18, a Tesco price Check game show on October 25, plus Halloween and pre-Christmas celebrations.

Meanwhile, as part of the launch, managers of the centre have revealed a green theme to the opening week.

Free reusable Willow Brook Centre bags will be handed out to shoppers on the opening two days and a green workshop will be held on Saturday, 18 October.

More names for the soon-to-open Willow Brook Centre in Bradley Stoke have emerged - including Shoe Zone and phone store 02 - and we’d love to hear what you think of the selection.

A long-rumoured Subway store will open alongside Ladbrokes, shoe store Brantano, Ladbrokes and Westworld, says The Bradley Stoke Journal.

This brings the current full list to:

• Tesco Extra
• Costa Coffee
• KFC
• Subway
• Greggs
• Nationwide Building Society
• Carphone Warehouse
• Reflections Hairdressing
• Shoe Zone
• Brantano
• 02
• Ladbrokes
• Westworld

As well as the shops a dental surgery is due to open alongside relocated offices for Bradley Stoke Town Council.

The centre is due to open on Monday, 13 October 2008 at 9am.

If you want to comment on the line-up then hit the comments below and leave your views here at The Bradley Stoke Examiner.

A plan to reconfigure units inside the Willow Brook Centre’s new shopping mall has been given the green light by South Gloucestershire planners.

Tesco wanted to alter the layout of some of the shops inside the centre to create 15 smaller units instead of the original ten.

Tesco claims the changed units would “offer greater opportunities for a variety of occupiers, and in meeting the demands expressed to the developer from prospective tenants will ensure that the space is fully occupied.”

The application went on to claim the move “will enhance the diversity and vitality of the area further”.

You can find full details of the changes by looking at the planning area of South Gloucestershire Council’s website.

The Willow Brook Centre is due to open on October 13 at 9am with the list of shops due to open there growing by the week.

Greggs bakery shop is the latest to confirm it will open a shop at the new Willow Brook Centre in Bradley Stoke.

An observant reader of The Bradley Stoke Examiner pointed out that Greggs in Redfield was advertising the upcoming Bradley Stoke shop.

Centre manager Scott Lahive has now confirmed that it will open with the rest of the centre in October.

It will join a new Tesco Extra, Carphone Warehouse, KFC, Reflections, Costa Coffee and Nationwide Building Society.

New pay-at-the-pump facilities have been installed at the Tesco petrol station in Bradley Stoke - but they still do not work.

The new terminals at the pumps, which are similar to those at Tesco in Easton, were installed last week.

But, as queues continue to blight the newly opened station, staff there still do not know when the Pay@Pump will be working.

On Friday evening, queues formed outside the station with, at times, more than four cars waiting at each pump.

Motorists are enduring a frustrating waiting as workers take payment for each transaction rather than drivers being able to pay themselves.

Meanwhile, a new cash machine - previewed by The Bradley Stoke Examiner in July - has been installed at the forecourt.

Willow Brook Centre manager Scott Lahive has moved to reassure residents that pedestrian access problems to the town centre are only temporary.

Mr Lahive, responding to our story from July over moves to create a crossing while work is carried out, said “there will be a pedestrian route into the centre”.

He went on to say: “This has always been part of the plan. In fact the route to the centre will be easier and much quicker than going with the suggested route that has come about recently.

“There are six pedestrian entre points to the new centre and these footpaths encourage pedestrians from every angle and provide safe and secure walkways.”

Councillor Jon Williams has been arguing for a pedestrian crossing to be installed after road safety fears were raised as a concern at a Safer, Stronger South Gloucestershire meeting.

Cllr Williams had met with town centre management to discuss installing a crossing sooner but this was rejected due to high costs.