Metropol

Beep wrote:ISTR the Wal-mart branding long before the early 2000s, even if my memory from before then isn't that great.

wal-mart only bought asda in 1999

tvmercia wrote:

Beep wrote:ISTR the Wal-mart branding long before the early 2000s, even if my memory from before then isn't that great.

wal-mart only bought asda in 1999

Well I defer to your knowledge on that, then again, my deepest memories really date to 1997ish, where I can remember information well, it might just be that they changed the branding in 1999, almost instantly after the takeover.

tvmercia wrote: Not sure where you've got your info from, as I'm pretty sure you're not old enough to remember any of that.

From my memory, Minworth went

- Carrefour 1977
- Gateway 1987ish
- ADSA 1989ish
- ASDA Wal-mart Supercentre early 2000s
- ASDA Supercentre 2009ish

(IIRC Minworth used the correct spelling of centre throughout)

Yep that all sounds about right, Asda also had another store in Sutton at Mere Green between 1990 and 1992, which they sold to Sainsbury's when Asda was close to going bankrupt, which is still going as a Sainsbury's now.

stu wrote:

Philip Cobbold wrote:The Merry Hill Asda was built as a Carrefour, so it could be that they had that layout since it opened, and Asda just carried it over when they aquired it.

It was a Gateway before it was an Asda. Footage of it being a Carrefour can be seen in the Spitting Image 1987 election special, of all places.

I'll take this moment to declare my love for the Merry Hill centre! I used to go to the Merry Hill more or less every week, and have seen it change many times. I used to be able to see it from my old house, too. (looks wistful)

That song is stuck in my head and is going on my ipod.

It is a bloody weird centre. I can understand why they didn't open it all at once, but they should have made the malls consistent with one another, as it stands you turn a corner and *everything* changes.

The things that are *almost* consistent are hideous - polished terracotta-tone rock pillars, gold escalators with brown hand-belts; fascinating but dated. The problem is exacerbated by Westfield's recent generic additions - the food court and some signage (the white-on-white stuff) is in-line with what you see in White City and Derby, obviously it fits the sleek modern look of these centres but looks very awkward against the decidedly 80s Merry Hill.

I think the prognosis for the place in the long-term isnt great. Birmingham has a pretty complete portfolio of retail outlets (unlike Doncaster and Sheffield in the case of Meadowhall, which both have significant gaps), and has strengthened its position from what I gather was rather weak in the 90s. If I lived in the West Midlands, I'd much sooner make the trip to Brum over Merry Hill. I'm not sure even a refit would work - Westfield's finish just isn't as good as that at the Bullring if they continue to maintain the standard they have.

Westfield are clearly being proactive about keeping the shops occupied (I wouldn't be at all surprised if some are there rent-free or very cheap), and recent additions like Clas Ohlson are impressive - but I think it only needs one anchor to go and the whole thing will start terminally bleeding tenants.

But in the meantime, as a retail nerd I had a wonderful time spotting Monorail remains and what seemed to be abandoned entrances etc.

On the subject of the Monorail, I'm almost annoyed that it didn't succeed. American malls normally have some sort of gimmicky attraction, be it a Carousel or an impressive water feature, so a Monorail system straight in to what would have been the heart of the centre definitely fits that bill.

WillPS wrote:I think the prognosis for the place in the long-term isnt great. Birmingham has a pretty complete portfolio of retail outlets (unlike Doncaster and Sheffield in the case of Meadowhall, which both have significant gaps), and has strengthened its position from what I gather was rather weak in the 90s. If I lived in the West Midlands, I'd much sooner make the trip to Brum over Merry Hill. I'm not sure even a refit would work - Westfield's finish just isn't as good as that at the Bullring if they continue to maintain the standard they have.

merry hell's catchment area really is confined to the western suburbs of birmingham only, along with the black country. transport links are atrocious, from personal experience it takes at least 45minutes by car to get there [on a good day] from central brum (i imagine longer by bus), no railway access, no midland metro.

aside from that, as you say, bullring has a far superior range of shops.

If you're on a budget, it's not too good - Merry Hill went very upmarket in the last 10 years or so to compete with the New Bullring, getting rid of a lot of the cheaper shops that used to be there -The last budget place to go was a Spencer's Indoor Market.

Wolverhampton to Merry Hill by bus is a nightmare journey.

stu wrote:If you're on a budget, it's not too good - Merry Hill went very upmarket in the last 10 years or so to compete with the New Bullring

There is Poundland, Poundworld, Primark and TK Maxx, none of which are in Bullring except the latter which kinda is.

For me to get to Merry Hill, as one who doesn't drive, I'm required to get a train from Redditch to Birmingham New Street which is up to 45 minutes of journey time. Walk through the Bullring link towards the Selfridges end of Bullring get another train to Cradley Heath from Birmingham Moor Street which takes another half an hour or so and then walk from that station to the centre which takes about 15 minutes.

Perhaps there is a better or cheaper way to get there someone knows about?

They are planning a new Midlands Metro Line from New Street Station(?) to Briely Hill, which should come in handy.

wells wrote:

stu wrote:If you're on a budget, it's not too good - Merry Hill went very upmarket in the last 10 years or so to compete with the New Bullring

There is Poundland, Poundworld, Primark and TK Maxx, none of which are in Bullring except the latter which kinda is.

So there is! I've only been there twice in recent years, (150 mile trip, that is dedication) so my current knowledge of it's layout is lacking - but for many years it was a pricey place to go and my family gradually stopped going there.

They've been talking about extending the Metro to the Merry Hill since the Metro was built, hopefully one day it will appear!

I'm going by what it says at the front of the tram, on this artists impression of what the Birmingham New Street station will look like.



Full size image here http://www.newstreetnewstart.co.uk/medi ... 20tram.jpg

tvmercia wrote:

WillPS wrote:I think the prognosis for the place in the long-term isnt great. Birmingham has a pretty complete portfolio of retail outlets (unlike Doncaster and Sheffield in the case of Meadowhall, which both have significant gaps), and has strengthened its position from what I gather was rather weak in the 90s. If I lived in the West Midlands, I'd much sooner make the trip to Brum over Merry Hill. I'm not sure even a refit would work - Westfield's finish just isn't as good as that at the Bullring if they continue to maintain the standard they have.

merry hell's catchment area really is confined to the western suburbs of birmingham only, along with the black country. transport links are atrocious, from personal experience it takes at least 45minutes by car to get there [on a good day] from central brum (i imagine longer by bus), no railway access, no midland metro.

aside from that, as you say, bullring has a far superior range of shops.

Transport is terrible, but to be honest even if I lived in Dudley or even Cradley Heath I'd still prefer to make the journey in to Birmingham than out there. The centre has clearly failed in its attempt to become a wide-reaching shopping destination, and I don't think the suburbs it has captured are at all substantial enough to power it along.

And who'd make an appearance on The Apprentice tonight the one and only Merry Hill, also Bullring.