Meadowhall: Sheffield's showpiece shopping centre prepares to celebrate 35 years of retail supremacy
The megamall is gearing up to celebrate three-and-a-half decades in business.
Sheffield's showpiece shopping centre Meadowhall opened 35 years ago this week.
September 4 1990 saw thousands of shoppers converge on what would prove to be a regional retail powerhouse.
Not only would it revolutionise South Yorkshire's shopping habits, but the £400m investment would put Sheffield on the map for retail and leisure far and wide.
Built on the former Hadfields' East Hecla steelworks and boasting 280 stores it was the UK’s second biggest shopping complex.
And it was an instant success, attracting 20m customers in its first year.
Since then innumerable stores have come and gone including a large Sainsbury’s, a Hamleys toy store, Debenhams, Top Shop, Top Man and Miss Selfridge.
New shops this year include Space NK, Sephora, Bershka and Oliver Bonas.
It was flooded in 2007, a few years ago it had a £60m refurbishment and it has delayed and downsized a huge extension three times. It has also resisted calls to charge for car parking.
Earlier this year, The Star revealed the 20 stores that had been there since the beginning, including Greggs, Boots, Marks & Spencer, McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut.
Late last year it introduced a time limit on parking for the first time - backed by a £100 charge.