The huge complex, built in the 70s, was once Europe’s biggest indoor shopping mall, but now Runcorn’s Shopping City is practically abandonded and locals say should just be knocked down
This shopping mall was once the glittering jewel of a town in Cheshire, but now it’s practically abandoned with barren store fronts and empty walkways. And locals say it’s just “getting worse”.
Shopping City in Runcorn first opened its doors in 1972 with high hopes. Formerly the biggest shopping mall in Europe, the centre is now a sight for sore eyes, housing only a few shops and plenty of empty units.
It originally attracted many shoppers from out of town, but most big name stores have ditched the “dated” complex. Locals brand it “behind the times”, pointng out it’s a far cry from what it was built to be in the 70s.
The once mesmerising mall boasted walkways “in the sky” which linked it to the hospital, courts and surrounding estates, as well as Woolsworths and Littlewoods. It was a big hit in its first years and attracted many customers from Manchester and Liverpool, but now big names such as The Range and Tesco have deserted the centre, Cheshire Live reports. Barber Adam Killen, who works in Runcorn’s Old Town, described it as “a shopping centre with no shops in it” in 2023.
“It’s always been the same. There’s nothing here,” added Gail Mayers, who was shopping at the time with her daughter Lisa. Lisa said: “We’ve had everything in here but it’s getting worse, emptier. Even the bank has shut down.” The pair reminisced fondly about old shops which once stood in the centre, including a B&M which was left empty after it moved to neighbouring Trident Retail Park.
Nathan Dawson, who was with his young son Arthur, said: “It’s behind the times. It’s just stayed in the early 2000s. It needs a lot of development. It needs to be brought into the modern times. Everything seems to be developed around Runcorn, but never Runcorn itself.”
Some more recent TripAdvisor reviews echo these thoughts, as one shopper wrote: “No atmosphere shopping centre, cold in winter. It’s so 70s still with no people, it’s tired looking and needs knocking down.” While another penned: “Not been in a few years not changed . Aside from a lot of shops closed down and passages blocked a nice little hiding place for all the teens!!”
Coffee House manager Magda Spratek, explained last year that her shop opened at the complex in June 2021. “We are quite lucky because we have regulars, but it’s very rare that we see a new face, someone who says ‘Let’s go to Shopping City and see what’s there’,” she said. “It would be so much nicer if we had a place like Primark; a big shop to bring people in. I see the same faces so often that I wonder how they can afford to come here all the time,” she added.
School volunteer Barbara Roberts, added at the time: “It is a shame. I’ve been here 48 years. It’s a shame that it has changed; both the new town and the old town.” and Barbar’s daughter, Lisa Williams, added: “It’s a bit behind other shopping centres.”
“I do like the way they try to bring the community together with art. We’ve got to go over the bridge to buy normal things. All the investment goes over there [to Widnes],” Barbara added.
The mother-and-daughter pair said the local library, which is near shopping centre, was “important to the community and particularly the local school children”.
Rob Garrett, was working at a menswear shop in the mall, which opened 30 years ago, when he said: “I’ve been working here for twenty years, and it’s the same faces you see coming in every day. They’ve tried to do things to get new people in – there was a crazy golf course [in the square at the centre of Shopping City] last summer – but I think a lot of people would rather go to Warrington or Widnes now.”
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