Manchester has lost several shopping centres that have not stood the test of time
The Triangle shopping centre in central Manchester before it was redeveloped
Stretford Mall will soon be demolished as part of the town centre’s £28m rebirth.
Recently, King Street in Stretford was opened to the public for the first time in decades after being covered by the old mall. Originally called Stretford Arndale, the shopping centre opened in 1969, replacing the traditional shopping district around King Street.
Stretford Arndale opened six years before the prestigious Manchester Arndale, and many still refer to the precinct by its former name. But of course, it isn’t the only shopping centre that has faced the wrecking ball over the years.
Through redevelopment and changes in shoppers’ needs, Manchester has lost several shopping centres that have not stood the test of time, from once popular meccas of commerce in the city centre to smaller precincts in the suburbs.
To celebrate these much-loved shopping centres of the past, we’ve decided to revisit nine that were redeveloped or completely demolished.
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Cheetham Shopping Precinct
Cheetham Shopping Precinct, Manchester, May 5, 1996(Image: cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Duncan Watts – geograph.org.uk/p/2377101)
Before there was a modern shopping centre and Tesco superstore in Cheetham Hill, locals would visit Cheetham Shopping Parade to do their big weekly shop.
Cheetham’s old 1970s-style precinct had everything from cafes to hairdressers and the well loved Cordon Bleu Food market. Used by generations of Cheetham’s residents, proposals to regenerate the area and shopping centre had been in the pipeline since the mid-1990s.
The old shopping parade was demolished and redeveloped in the Noughties, including the addition of a Tesco superstore which opened in 2009.
Stretford Mall’s Market Hall
Mezzanine level above the now demolished market hall in Stretford Mall
The huge redevelopment of Stretford town centre has seen much of its main shopping centre demolished with the rest set to follow suit. Opened in 1969, Stretford Mall was built to replace the traditional shopping district centred around King Street.
Originally known as Stretford Arndale, a lack of investment as well as competition from the nearby Trafford Centre has seen the loss of major stores and left the once glitzy precinct a shadow of its former self.
One of the biggest victims of the decline was the old covered market hall which has been plagued with vacant units for a number of years and has since been demolished. between 2017 – 2019 the precinct’s new entrance was built in its place.
Triangle Shopping Centre
The Triangle shopping centre is no more
The Triangle Shopping Centre was based in the historic Corn Exchange in Manchester city centre. The Corn Exchange had been home to an indoor marketplace until 1996 when an IRA bomb exploded nearby causing extensive damage.
The renovation work, including extensive internal remodelling, cost £8 million and the building reopened as the Triangle Shopping Centre in 2000. Filled with high-class retail outlets such as Jigsaw and MUJI, it was a far cry from the alternative marketplace that was previously housed there.
Inside the Triangle Shopping Centre, Manchester(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
However, despite cosmetic attempts to boost trade, its detachment from the city’s main shopping areas and poor accessibility failed to attract the right mix of brands to pull in shoppers. In 2011, the decision was made to build upon the centre’s most successful businesses – cafes and restaurants – by attracting niche eateries and shops to re-create the feel of London’s Carnaby Street, Covent Garden or Spitalfields market.
The decision was also made for the building to revert to its historic Corn Exchange, signalling the end of The Triangle Shopping Centre.
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Moss Side Shopping Centre
Moss Side Shopping Centre(Image: @Manchester Libraries)
Moss Side Shopping Centre was officially opened in April 1975 and was built to replace the existing shopping areas at Alexandra Road, Princess Road and Stretford Road. But the centre was beset by problems almost as soon as it opened, with big name stores pulling out in its first few years.
In November 1983, the MEN reported the shopping centre was in crisis and facing financial ruin. In 1994, the demolition of the shopping precinct and surrounding tower blocks, had begun. Since then, Moss Side has seen substantial redevelopment and regeneration.
Beswick Shopping Centre
Beswick Precinct in 2006(Image: MEN)
Situated on Grey Mare Lane, Beswick Shopping Centre opened in the 1970s. The creation of the shopping precinct coincided with the construction of the doomed Wellington Street estate, nicknamed Fort Beswick, which was completed in 1972.
Fort Beswick’s demolition began in 1982, 10 years after it was completed. It’s thought for a while the shopping centre would fall victim to the bulldozers at the same time, but following a campaign to save the precinct by shopkeepers it was saved.
In 1993, Beswick’s Grey Mare Lane Market was temporarily relocated within the precinct during work started on extending the east Manchester relief road. However work began on demolishing the precinct in the late Noughties as part of significant regeneration around east Manchester.
Deansgate Arcade
Manchester’s Deansgate Arcade in 1955(Image: Beaumont, H. W./Manchester Libraries)
Old photographs of Deansgate Arcade show the arcade design was long and narrow, built across three floors. Shops included Williams – art needlework and Brissenden’s jewellers. This picture shows it shortly before demolition in the mid-1950s, you can see most shops had closing down sales.
Market Centre
The Brown Street entrance of the Market Centre, Manchester, 1975(Image: Manchester Libraries)
In the 1970s and ’80s, Manchester was home to a shopping destination with a difference – it was hidden underground. The Market Centre opened in 1972 and shoppers could buy pretty much everything they could possibly need, boasting more than 100 stores.
It was said to be the only place to buy skinny jeans in the 1970s, with fashion boutique Stolen From Ivor selling Levi jeans there. Market Centre also had a number of record shops, including Manchester Underground Records Import, Collectors Records, Yvonne’s and Spinn In Records.
The underground market was accessed via escalators and it’s believed its closure in 1989 was caused by the nearby Arndale Centre becoming more popular. Since then, half of the space has been transformed into a Tesco store, but the other half remains untouched.
The old Shambles Square
The old Shambles Square in 1983(Image: Manchester Metropolitan University Visual Resources)
Shambles Square was built in the 1970s as part of the construction of the Arndale, taking its name from the butchers and abattoirs that once stood there. The blood and guts left over from the slaughter and butchering being known as ‘shambles’.
The old Shambles was an eccentric mix of shops and two historic pubs, the Old Wellington and Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, which had survived the Manchester Blitz. Accessed via a narrow walkway from St Mary’s Gate, which was roughly between where M&S and Zara now stand, the square opened up into an L-shaped precinct.
But the old Shambles Square and its shops didn’t last the test of time. Despite being sheltered from the worst of the damage caused by the IRA bomb in 1996, the site was slap-bang in the middle of the area which would be transformed in the aftermath of the explosion.
By the late ’90s the shops had closed, and the whole complex was demolished, replaced by New Cathedral Street, Number One Deansgate and the new M&S and Selfridges. The pubs would be the only thing to survive, painstakingly demolished and rebuilt piece-by-piece 300 yards away next to the cathedral, on the new Shambles Square.
Lancaster Arcade
Lancaster Arcade, Manchester, 1969(Image: Manchester Archives and Local History Library)
Between Victoria Station and the Corn Exchange there used to be a 19th century shopping arcade. Lancaster Arcade ran from Fennel Street to Todd Street, and linked the two iconic city centre buildings, and was filled with independent businesses.
But, in common with too many other, quirky, higgledly-piggedly corners of the city centre, it was demolished in the name of post-war progress. While the Lancaster Arcade was demolished in the 1970s, without ever really fulfilling its potential, abandoned cellars and tunnels running under the city remain.
Beneath New Cathedral Street, now Harvey Nichols, are cellars and passages dating back centuries – including one that served as a skittles gallery and shooting range, and later a cheese store, according local historian Keith Warrender – which could be why nearby Lancaster Avenue was dubbed Cheese Alley by some.