This week, the Manchester Evening News reported on chaotic scenes at the Trafford Shopping Centre after a number of stores were forced to close amid chaotic and violent crowd scenes.
Police were called to the Trafford Centre on Saturday, May 16, after ‘fights’ broke out when crowds of shoppers were trying to get their hands on a limited-edition watch.
Crowds had gathered outside the Swatch store to buy the 335 Royal Pop watches – a collaboration between Swatch and the Luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet – with some reportedly queueing overnight.
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When the shopping centre opened its doors at 6am, huge crowds surged the barriers and began “pushing and shoving” each other, with reports of chairs being thrown. It isn’t the only time police have had to be called after crowds caused chaos at a shopping centre.
In 2014, a ‘fire sale’ at the closing down of Manchester’s Triangle shopping centre descended into scenes likened by many to looting, with glass shattered, televisions torn from walls and shop shutters forced open.
The Triangle Shopping Centre launched in 2000, occupying the historic Corn Exchange in Manchester city centre. Following the Second World War, the magnificent Edwardian building had lain dormant before the arts breathed new life into it in 1976.
It served as a home for The Royal Exchange Theatre Company and as a filming location for Granada Television’s Brideshead Revisited. Gradually, it evolved back into a marketplace until 1996, when the building was devastated by the detonation of a nearby IRA bomb.
Triangle Shopping Centre in Manchester city centre(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The glass dome shattered, and the structure sustained widespread damage, forcing businesses to relocate. The subsequent restoration project included replacing around 800 window frames and installing 1,700 square metres of glass to repair the building’s iconic glass-domed roof.
The renovation work, including extensive internal remodelling, cost £8million, and the building reopened as the Triangle Shopping Centre, filled with high-class retail outlets such as Jigsaw and MUJI. It was a far cry from the alternative marketplace that had previously been housed there, which consisted of small stallholders selling clothes, jewellery, and second-hand records.
Many of the units were temporary structures on the Exchange’s old trading floor, with other permanent shops and offices around the perimeter. In stark contrast, the renovation completely remodelled the interior with glass and chrome, and included the installation of an ultra-modern ‘sky bar’.
The Corn Exchange building was renamed the Triangle Shopping Centre in 2000(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. In 2014, the owners decided to sell as much as possible from the building before it was redeveloped.
Some of the items that would be available at the ‘yard sale’ going for as little as £10(Image: Jason Lock)
Doors to the amazing ‘yard sale’ were set to open for 9am with hundreds expecting to turn up looking to grab a bargain. Entry was free and everything inside was priced at £10, from shelves and shop fittings to 50 inch televisions, sofas and even the huge metal ‘sky bar’ structure itself.
Other more unusual items up for grabs included a Hacienda-style picnic bench signed by legendary DJ Dave Haslam and a giant silver throne. Those looking to fit out a shop could also buy chandeliers, counters and shelving with all the money from the event being donated to charity.
The Triangle shopping centre in Manchester had a chaotic closing down sale in 2014
But with so many expensive and sought after items on sale for just £10, there were fears pandemonium would break out as shoppers stripped the old shopping centre bare. And they were right.
Some people queued for more than 11 hours outside to be in pole position to bag a bargain. However, tensions ran high as soon as the doors opened as hundreds of people swarmed into the building with some ripping televisions and speaker systems off the walls.
Crowds gathered for over 11 hours before the doors were open at the ‘fire sale’ for the former Triangle Shopping centre in 2014(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Glass windows were smashed and shutters to some former shopping units were prised open. An M.E.N. journalist who was covering the ‘fire sale’ at the time reported the event “brought out the worst in people”.
They said: “It was nothing short of madness as hundreds of people dashed into the building with one thing on their mind – grab whatever you can.”
Adding: “For some reason, the event seemed to bring out the worst in some people. Almost immediately, people could be seen shouting and abusing each other in rows over who had claimed the item first.
Corn Exchange yard sale one day only Saturday 19th July. All remaining items with a starting price of £10.00 including the sky bar! (Image: Jason Lock)
“Then there were scenes compared by many to looting as glass was smashed, televisions and speaker systems were ripped from the wall and shutters prised open.” As things descended into chaos, more than 25 police officers were called in to shut the event down.
A spokesman for the Corn Exchange management later said: “The numbers exceeded our expectations,” but added they were proud of building staff who “handled the situation fantastically.”
Police officers were called to shut the charity sale down after things turned to chaos with the crowds(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The Corn Exchange reopened in 2015 as a popular food outlet with a multimillion-pound transformation of four floors to turn the upper part of the building into a hotel starting a year later which opened in 2018.
The launch of the hotel unveiled listed parts of the building unseen by the public which were covered up by the heavy restoration under the building’s former use as the Triangle Shopping Centre.