“STRETFORD is a little corner of Manchester famed for its Arndale Centre or 'mall' that reeks of sausage rolls and depression,” I wrote recently.
“...oh the despair, always the despair,” someone responded.
This followed a particularly stressful morning, I was in a rush and just found that Sally Hair & Beauty where I had previously bought cheap hair products was yet another shop to join Stretford Mall's increasing store closures.
Disappointment ensued; looking around at the aisles of shoulder-to-shoulder vacant lots and ‘To Let’ signs, far more pungent than the Gabbots Farm butchers, was the stench of the recession. Recession had come through the Mall like a hurricane taking with it, to name just a few, Argos, Clinton Cards, T J Hughes, H Samuels, Dorothy Perkins and to most local's despair, McDonalds.
The hungry and the hungover have been up in arms about this for awhile.
Stretford Mall doesn’t hustle and bustle like the city centre at 9am; it rolls out of bed, stretches its legs, yawns and makes itself a brew.
This isn’t the same Stretford Mall most locals, and close-by in Gorse Hill and Old Trafford, would visit in droves.
I know this as I’ve lived in Stretford and Old Trafford most of my life. I knew Stretford Mall before its name was changed from Stretford Arndale in 2003. Stretford Mall gave me my first job, my second job and it was the first place I travelled to when I was allowed to get on the bus by myself at 13.
It has stood proudly as a point of reference for Stretford dwellers – your whereabouts in Stretty is determined by how close or how far you are from its entrance and in my primary school days, Mum’s trips to Stretford Mall meant one of three things: new school shoes, a copy of Smash Hits magazine and yes, a sausage roll.
Indeed, pastry treats are still popular in Stretford Mall as is the granny favourite, Bon Marché clothing store, one of the oldest shops still operating since the Mall opened its doors in 1969. Modelled on the American Malls, it was, back then, one of the biggest Arndale Centres in Britain.
"A lot of old people come here. A lot"
If I was to say Muhammed Ali and Ovaltine to a Stretford local over 50 years old they’ll remember when the boxer payed a visit to promote the hot drink in 1972. Stretford Mall’s Duty Manager, Mike Russell, recalled that locals over-excitedly reduced Muhammed to a, “startled wreck”. Shoppers smashed windows just to get in, and the man who gave us “float likes a butterfly, sting like a bee” escaped hurriedly via the back exit.
It’s hard to imagine Stretford Mall as it once was, packed with shoppers, flower shows, Miss Stretford pageants, tea dances, visits from celebrities such as Bobby Charlton and locals swelling with pride at their new, modern shopping complex.
Stretford Mall
Now, while neighbouring shopping centres such as Trafford Centre and Manchester Arndale thrive with vivid colour throughout the festive period, Stretford Mall is greyscale.
It doesn't help that the only Tesco you can see from the moon has opened half a mile away up Chester Road, with all the amenity, more or less, but less of the diversity of Stretty Mall.
On this particular visit, it was 9am and a dull Christmas jingle chimes through the intercom. Stretford Mall doesn’t hustle and bustle like the city centre at this time; it rolls out of bed, stretches its legs, yawns and makes itself a brew. Shoppers move at the slowest pace – mostly because its main customers are of retirement age.
Al's 'Babez' stall,Stretford Mall“There’s lots of old people that come here. A lot.” says Al, owner of Babez market stall. Babez has been selling an array of beauty products for 6 years and she’s not impressed with the Mall's closures. “Footfall has dropped massively and it’s definitely had an impact. I’m keeping a float but it’s been difficult.”
Situated for the time being on the side of the Mall with fewer closures, Al recognises that shoppers are put off by costs. “People are going to the Trafford Centre where there’s free parking and don’t want to come here and pay the £2.50. Even having to pay 20p for the toilets. It may be small but it is off-putting."
More off-putting is that there’s not much to buy anymore.
The market is in dire shape, reduced to almost nothing, a part from a ‘Gift For All’ stall selling watches, carpets and school uniforms and a butchers that stands lonely at the very back of the sparse clearing. Above a mezzanine (that I had never noticed before) looks untouched from the 1980s, including an abandoned hairdressers that still has pictures of 80s hair styles in the window.
It’s eerie. Cue tumbleweed.
Nice hairstyle - once
I was suprised to find around a dark gloomy corner, with a collapsing roof, Kingfisher cafe. Not exactly in a prime location.
Stretford Mall's Market
Still sporting its garish blue and yellow former glory, it was deserted, apart from the teenage girl playing with her mobile in the corner.
Kingfisher’s new manager joined the cafe in the summer. “Looking at the books from 2011–2012 takings have dropped massively. Our main customers already know about us or stumble upon us by accident. I’m from Hale and people from round here tell me constantly how great it used to be.”
Kingfisher
Regardless of how it used to be waaaay back, even more recently it was a damn sight better.
Of course Stretford Mall in the latter years was always more functional than fashionable; it’s where you went for the necessities much like a motorway service station. You come with a pocket full of change to post your letters, buy some bleach, some deodorant, you get your bits, your bobs and you get out. It’s not about frivolous spending; it’s more about cutting costs with food shopping, getting your shoes re-heeled and last minute birthday cards.
That is by no means a bad thing.
My dad, not so vocal about most of my articles about shoes and make-up and so on, made it clear that any slagging off of ‘his’ Stretford Mall would not be tolerated.
He says: “It was a lot better a few years ago but Manchester Arndale and Trafford Centre are far too flamboyant for me, Stretford Mall brings me straight back to earth. I always find what I want.”
Back to earth with a crash more like. Where the effects of the recession can be disguised in the larger centres, Stretford Mall’s struggle is blatant and sobering to look at.
A centre shoppers have forgotten. And abandoned.
Cue tumbleweed
Managing director of Stretford Mall, Colin McCory says, “It’s a case of use it or lose it. We get complaints such as, 'Oh, Argos has left.' Well, when was the last time you visited us?"
McCory explains: “If all these shops were making masses of profit they’d be here.
“The big retailers are not going to sit and wait for business, if you’re not going to use them they’ll close down. If you just go to Town, The Trafford Centre and out of town shopping parks like Cheshire Oaks then the inevitable will happen.
“Our bed store has been with us for 40 years. The manager's told me people come in, lie on the beds, then look underneath. He asks them what they’re doing, and they tell him they're looking for the name so they can go online and buy it cheaper.”
Undoubtedly people are trying to master shopping in difficult times by going online, but I'd assume people would not want to see their local Arndale go.
“Hopefully in the next five or five years we’ll increase footfall and get more retailers in. It’s the chicken and egg. We need more customers for more shops and more shops for more customers," says McCory
“It’s the smaller independent businesses that we want to focus on. Locals want the personal shopping experience, they want to come to a shop and have a shop owner say: “Hello Marge how are you?” People still want that personal experience.”
It’s true. The personal touch works for places like Stretford Mall. But even saying that, will independents really want to come to this type of shopping centre?
Fans of nearby Chorlton's indie scene prefer traditional streets not air-conditioned concrete hallways. The 70s precinct in Chorlton suffers from the same poor image as Stretford Mall.
More than anything else Stretford Mall appears lost in the wrong age. Even the subways under Chester Road seem somehow antique.
A local pensioner, Barry, spots me instantly while I take pictures and calls me over. “I come here most days, I like the chat you see but it’s not what it used to be,” he said to me, shakily.
People shout, “Hi Barry,” as we chat for a bit, he kisses my hand as I leave and I’m left feeling all protective of Barry’s social centre and of course, my dad’s shopping sanctuary.
So, as I left I bought two sausage rolls.
Use it or lose it, after all.
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Stretford Mall, Chester Rd, Stretford, Manchester M32 9BD. Open: Mon - Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 10am-4pm
