Build it back up or knock it down? — The uncertain future of Salford’s infamous shopping centre
- Eloise Parry
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
If you know Salford, you know Salford Shopping City. Once described by local councillor John Warmisham as “the biggest eyesore in Salford”, the centre is signposted by an impossible-to-miss 25-storey residential block that screams SALFORD SHOPPING CITY. Despite its signage, the centre hasn’t held the title “City” in over twenty years, long ago demoted to Salford Shopping Centre. The outdated lettering remains, its faded red paint telling a story of neglect and abandoned ambitions. But the issues run far deeper than a decades-old sign. What does the future look like for Salford’s neglected 1970’s shopping centre?
At 10am on a Wednesday, Salford Shopping Centre is quieter than it should be. The peeling sticker on its doors claims the centre opened two hours ago, but the empty hallways punctuated with shuttered shopfronts tell an entirely different story. A host of betting shops line one corridor, interrupted only by one nail salon and a miscellaneous discount store shadowed by a sign that reads ‘SUPER EXTRA POUND’.
On one tiled corner I find Noel standing in a sea of brightly coloured tulips and peonies, beneath a garish red banner that proclaims “JULIES FLOWERS”: a welcome relief in a maze of otherwise bare corridors.
“It’s not like it used to be.” Noel tells me, not looking up from the rose he is plucking petals from. “It used to be crazily busy, frighteningly busy”. He looks wistfully down the corridor, empty save for one elderly couple shuffling past an empty unit, that Noel tells me used to house a Wilkos. “All these shops were occupied,” he tells me, gesturing up and down the corridor, “and it was busy, especially the market days. We were out there six days a week; we had our flea market on Thursdays and the car boot on Sundays. We were busy, busy, busy!” he repeats.
Salford Shopping Centres outdoor market closed in 2013, demolished to make way for an Aldi just one year after a Tesco Superstore was built in its shadow. For many, this was the start of the end. Shopper Lynn told me that a superstore so close rendered the centre useless: “Tesco’s ruined it. Everyone just goes there instead. You can’t blame them, they have everything you want in one place, no faffing about. It’s just a shame for this place.”
Salford’s move towards convenience shopping mirrors a much bigger, national shift. The centre for retail research found that 13,479 shops closed their doors in 2024, with 11,341 of those being independent businesses — that’s equivalent to 37 every single day. For Salford Shopping City, its left just over half of the shops occupied, and the shops that are still here, aren’t popular amongst their few customers. Margaret lives locally to the precinct, she told me: “It’s just crap since the big names left. We don’t want all these betting shops and places to get your nails done up. I just want somewhere I can get a good winter shoe.” Margaret wants more clothing and homeware options in the centre, but for many the solution isn’t that simple.
I met Roy perched on a railing outside Poundland, part of the way through a cigarette: “You can talk to me, but you won’t like what I have to say” he tells me, “I’ve been coming on here 40 odd years now, I live over the road, so I’ve got no choice but to come on here really, but it’s depressing.” He takes a long drag of his cigarette, raising his hand to greet a man he’s spotted across the car park, “Everyday it gets more depressing. I’ll tell you what killed this place — the market going. They should’ve knocked the whole place down then.”
As of November 2025, there are no plans for demolition at Salford Shopping City, which florist Noel celebrates. “It’s so much more than a shopping centre.” Noel told me, “It’s a hub. If you come in here every day, you’ll see the same people. This community, those people — they’d be lost without it.” A group of ladies potter by the flower stand and Noel greets them by name. “You all know each other in here,” he explains, “You all say hello, how are you, you know. Its friendly, you don’t see that anymore, people are nice. It’s not so much what this place has for them, it’s about where else they’d go. That’s it — it’s not about buying for them; it’s getting out the house.”
Local councillor Michelle Barnes spoke to me about her personal connection to the precinct: “I was around when the precinct was built. I grew up in that area, and I worked on the market whilst I was at school, it was my first job. I remember the centre thriving and now it’s such a shame, it’s never been the same since the market was gotten rid of.”
Ms Barnes was keen to stress that the centre itself is not council property, it belongs to a company called Praxis Holdings, who did not respond to a request for comment. Despite this, councillors work closely with the manager of the centre. Michelle said, “He was in one of our last meetings, saying he would like to see it as more of a community space, and we would support that.”
Finally, Michelle teased the construction of a new leisure centre at the site, saying she hopes it would bring more footfall to the centre. She said, “We’re hoping that will bring more business and then they can hopefully start investing more into the centre.”
At 5:30pm, the lights go out, and the shutters go down on another day at Salford Shopping City. Inside at the florist stall, Noel packs up his flowers, and outside Poundland, Roy stubs out his cigarette. It’s the years long loyalty from locals like these that keeps this precinct ticking over. Be it driven by love like Noel, or hatred like Roy, as long as people keep showing up, there is hope that the shutters will keep coming up at Salford Shopping Centre.
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