Stretford Arndale was forgotten to time, with the ‘ghost mall’ boasting few storefronts and fewer customers decades on from its heyday, with part of the shopping centre ‘frozen in time’
A forgotten “ghost mall” has been frozen in time since its heyday as one of the busiest places in Manchester.
Originally known as Stretford Arndale, the shopping centre opened in 1969 and soon found itself lacking investment and competing with the nearby Trafford Centre. A majority of stores soon left the Stretford Mall, which began resembling a ‘dead’ mall, where vacancy rates are high and foot traffic is low. Even after a redevelopment plan, a part of the mall which had no work done to it was discovered, leading one to describe the upper floor of the mall as ‘frozen in time’.
Hayley Flynn, speaking to MEN, said: “It was like staring through a tear in the fabric of time; it wasn’t altered, it wasn’t hidden yet it wasn’t paid attention to either. Totally isolated and hidden in plain sight.” She further credited the ‘quaint brick and net-curtained inn’ found upstairs, as well as the ‘magic’ of the undeveloped upstairs area. “I couldn’t get an exact date on the last time this was open for business, but by the looks of things, it doesn’t look like the place was around to welcome in the ’90s,” she added.
Photographer Shirley Bainbridge has since captured the interior and showcased the now-demolished ‘time capsule’ within. The area has since been demolished and replaced with a new entrance, built over the course of 2017 to 2019. Eerie images now show the desolate halls which feature just a small handful of shop fronts, including a key cutters and café.
The mezzanine played host to very few stores, and parts were ‘forgotten in time’ following construction work on the mall.
Interior improvements skipped out on this part of the mall, which was ‘not around to welcome the 90s’ according to a rough estimate from historians.
The ‘ghost’ mall shows little signs of life and still holds its 1980s aesthetic.
Interior designs discovered well after a renovation project show the mall had rooms stuffed full of ‘floral wallpaper’ and ‘decorative’ tiling.
The once-busy mall had no signs of life in its upper mezzanine, which was left behind upon previous renovation works.
A few stalls still remained inside the Stretford Mall, though it was a far cry from its glory days.
Tiled walls and empty rooms were a frequent part of the upper part of the mall, which was seemingly frozen in time.
Storefronts from the past were found within the abandoned parts of the mall, including this tiles and tiling store.
The blast from the past provided, according to Hayley, a ‘tear in the fabric of time’ which was ‘totally isolated’ from the rest of the mall.
