I visited ‘ghost’ shopping centre full of empty shops — things are really bad

Walking towards the giant sliding doors at the main entrance, while pondering how much things have changed here in recent years, I failed to see the notices saying “These doors are currently out of order” and came to a very abrupt halt as I narrowly escaped bashing my face on them trying to get out.

The fiasco pretty much sums up my overall experience of walking around a shopping centre that fed-up shoppers have been calling a “ghost mall” and “waste of time”. The broken doors (there was also an out of order lift) felt like yet another symptom of a place that is in need of some drastic attention.

I visited the Quayside Shopping Mall in Manchester on a mid-week lunchtime and counted over 30 empty units. The upper retail floor in particular is now a very strange empty gallery of nothingness.

Shoppers have been complaining about the issues at Quayside for some time now saying it’s “freezing cold”, “empty”, “dead” and “very disappointing”.

Many, like myself, are struggling to understand what the heck is going on here at what should be a prime visitor spot in one of the UK’s biggest cities.

It rebranded as Quayside in 2020 amid what was described as a multi-million pound revamp, although for many of us oldies it will always be known as The Lowry Outlet Mall.

Perhaps this is part of the problem in establishing a clear identity for the current centre. Of the shops that do remain, largely now on the ground floor, most are still “outlet” style shops offering discounts on ends-of-lines, like M&S, Next and Clarks. But they now sit alongside a hotch-potch of other retailers and some that feel like pop-up stores due to only opening on selected days.

The owners of Quayside, property giant Peel Retail and Leisure, say there is a plan for the future and that changes are being planned “behind the scenes” as part of the “Salford Quays 2030 vision”.

That vision is all about how the area will grow to become a “new town centre” in Greater Manchester. They say they are “developing the plans for Quayside to transition and become a place more suitable for a town centre and this means realigning the offering to provide a better customer experience for visitors”.

But I mean, come on guys, 2030 is five years away and shoppers heading here now deserve a better experience than this.

I personally can’t understand how Cheshire Oaks over at Ellesmere Port has become such a giant destination for outlet shopping and exploded in size with all sorts of major brands and designers clamouring for a space there while here in Salford has never been able to do the same (I suspect acres of free parking at Cheshire Oaks is one part of it).

It feels like Quayside is very much a place in flux and perhaps this “realigning of the offer” that the owners speak of will mean it moves away from the outlet concept in future. But in the meantime, what’s the lure for shoppers?

I drove to the mall on a Monday lunchtime to see for myself, and I was surprised just how many cars were parked up already, so I thought it was going to be busy inside. The car park has been attracting plenty of moans of its own, by the way, not least the decision a few years back to stop doing the discount if you got your ticket stamped in a shop in the centre.

Now the car park is completely ticketless and barrierless — but you need to make sure you pay before you leave (there have been more moans from shoppers saying this is “confusing” and “not clear”).

The car park pricing is £2.30 for 0-2 hours and £4.50 for 2-4 hours which seems fairly reasonable to me when you think how much it costs to park in the city centre. Although whether you’d actually find enough to do for a four hour shop here is another matter.

It goes up to £16 for 6-12 hours and £22 for 12-24 hours, which I can understand to be fair, as they want to discourage long stays and allow plenty of space for customers of Quayside itself. The location here means it naturally gets busy with people parking up for the Lowry arts centre too.

Having finally found a spot on level 3 I walked through to the mall through the car park entrance and the first thing that greeted me (after the toilets) was… empty units.

Circling round to the front of the mall, it’s just a horsehoe of more emptiness. There is a large hairdressers here, but it wasn’t open on Monday. Neither was an art gallery opposite. I looked at their opening times and they’re only open on weekends.

The only other human I saw up in this section was a security guard, who was eyeing me suspiciously as I peered into empty units and jotted down notes. Then a lost woman asked me where the toilets were. “It’s a lot of traipsing around isn’t it,” she huffed when I told her they were all the way on the other side.

Heading back towards the Quayside Canteen food court on the upper floor was a different story. There seemed to be loads of people heading down this way – particularly a lot of schoolkids – heading for a lunchtime feed of Burger King, Chicken Cottage or Subway no doubt. There’s a very good Harry Ramsdens chippy too.

I was also pleased to see the new Oxygen play centre which is a welcome new addition for families that has occupied a huge site next to the Vue cinema entrance.

It’s perhaps little surprising, though, that a lot of the giant publicity posters around the centre are urging visitors to go and check out Central Bay, the new bit on the waterfront side of the mall.

This is the new area where millions has been spent amid the overall future redevelopment of Quayside.

Independent food hall Kargo.MKT opened in 2023 amid much buzz and, as the owners state, has been “a resounding success”. People love it there, me included, and I’m a particular fan of the food offerings there like Baity and Ad Maiora. But I think the frustration is that nothing appears to have been happening in terms of the shopping experience inside the mall.

On the ground floor at Quayside there’s a much better selection of shops open (as opposed to the upper floor), and plenty of shopper activity around the M&S, Clarks, Cadbury and Next. The Works is also regulary pointed out as a favourite with shoppers, while The Harvester restaurant on the corner always seems to be packed.

But, again, it’s disappointing that the first thing that greets you at the main entrance into the mall up the steps at the Lowry Plaza (if you avoid the broken door) is two front-facing double units sitting empty. Not the first impression that you’d want to make, surely, as the operator of this centre.

While I was tempted by a reduced tub of £3.99 Heroes at the Cadbury shop, ultimately, the only purchase on my visit here was a Costa coffee. And the Costa at Quayside clearly knows what it’s doing, as it was heaving.

I’m not surprised as it is a particularly good branch of the coffee chain: a bit of a boho interior, loads of seating, the high roof giving a lovely feeling of space, friendly staff and super-quick service. But I mean it comes to something when the highlight of your trip out to a shopping centre is the Costa doesn’t it?

I asked Quayside’s owners for a comment on the empty units, the customer complaints, and the plan for the shopping centre. A spokesperson said: “Peel Retail and Leisure has been working intensively behind the scenes to plan for Quayside’s future as part of the Salford Quays 2030 vision, which means a full review of what resides in the centre.

“We are developing the plans for Quayside to transition and become a place more suitable for a town centre and this means realigning the offering to provide a better customer experience for visitors.

“We have already done this with the likes of Kargo.MKT, which has been a resounding success, and we’re aiming to emulate this with other offerings in the future.

“This will take time to achieve but we are committed to developing a destination that has something for everyone, whether you’re in Salford Quays to live, work, or enjoy your leisure time.”

In response to customer complaints on the temperature and parking they said: “We welcome customer feedback to help better the experience of Quayside for everybody and will be reviewing points raised in regards to temperature. We encourage customers to familiarise themselves with signs and pay stations at the Quayside car park and our staff can support if anything is unclear.”