This 'abandoned' UK 90s shopping centre is reopening — and its nostalgic

This ‘abandoned’ UK 90s shopping centre is reopening — and its nostalgic

Posted by author March 5, 2025 Shopping

The Wheatsheaf Centre closed in 2020 – but now it’s coming back (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)

An abandoned shopping centre that enjoyed its heyday in the 1990s but subsequently closed five years ago has been given a new lease of life.

The Wheatsheaf Centre in Rochdale, Greater Manchester shut its doors in the midst of the pandemic in 2020, but now, it’s set to reopen as a banqueting hall and events venue.

Originally built in 1991, the Wheatsheaf has five levels – the top two of which used to be a library – and originally housed more than 15 shops.

However, over the years fortunes waned for the shopping destination, and eventually, it lost key shops including Wilko, Ryman and New Look.

Now, the fifth and sixth floors where the library once stood will be revamped into two event halls set to accommodate weddings, conferences, and suchlike, as per reports in Manchester Evening News.

Across both floors, there’s expected to be capacity for 460 people, with 280 people spread across the fifth-floor venue and a further 180 on the sixth.

Rochdale Wheatsheaf — The centre is being revamped as an events space (Picture: Rochdale Council)

The property was originally listed for sale through WT Gunson, and was subsequently bought by DHA Corporates Ltd for £2,950,000.

‘We’re thrilled to share that we’re embarking on an exciting journey as the new owners of the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre in Greater Manchester,’ the company’s LinkedIn bio reads.

‘Currently undergoing extensive renovations, Wheatsheaf is poised to emerge as a premier retail destination. We are dedicated to creating an unparalleled shopping experience for our future visitors.

‘From stylish boutiques to dining options, Wheatsheaf will soon offer an enticing array of amenities to explore.’

‘We were there the day it opened’

Justin Whitelock, 51, is originally from Rochdale, and fondly remembers the day the Wheatsheaf opened.

‘A friend and I were passing it on the way to school on the day. We were led to believe there might be prizes for the first few ever to get in,’ he tells Metro.

‘We queued up for hours and were in several of the pictures of it opening. We missed (bunked off) school that day for the privilege but unfortunately never got anything for being one of the first customers through the doors.’

However, not everyone has always been enamoured with it. Before the Wheatsheaf closed its doors in 2020, countless visitors felt that it had largely left its glory days behind.

Over on TripAdvisor, @scottwP2467ZU described Rochdale as ‘a town on its knees,’ noting that the Wheatsheaf was ‘once a great shopping centre but no more. Cannot think of any reason you would want to visit this place.’

‘Sadly the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre looks to be a shadow of what it once was or could be,’ @allertonlad wrote in March 2019.

‘Set over two floors, upstairs is almost deserted. It’s quite a desirable shopping area in a prime position, but only currently has around 20 less than inspiring stores.’

And, once it had closed, @srpic wondered whether it would ever reopen, but added that ‘Rochdale has to do a lot to change its once great image and get back to the likes of Bury and Oldham.’ In their view, the ‘demise of the indoor market was its downfall.’

Exploring an ‘abandoned’ shopping centre

After its closure in 2020, the Wheatsheaf has been visited by countless urban explorers in search of eerily ‘abandoned’ buildings.

In 2022, it made it onto the @urbandoned__ YouTube page. Outside the front of the building, independent shops ‘CRAZE’ and ‘GW Menswear’ remained – but with their shutters firmly down.

Stepping inside, the shops were still plastered with closing down sale signs, and posters providing guidance on COVID remained, a stark reminder of the state of the world as lockdown loomed.

Inside one shop that was seemingly a clothes shop in a former life, countless clothes hangers were strewn across the floor and down the stairs, illuminated solely by the head torches worn by the explorers themselves.

Elsewhere, a paper calendar was stuck on March 2020, as though time itself had been paused.

‘This is very sad. I used to go [to] the library with my mum when I [was] small. It was the only place I truly loved. I’m 25 now and I won’t ever forget it,’ @nyasa5349 added in the comments section, full of nostalgia.

‘I used to live in Rochdale and it was always busy with people. This was my entire childhood coming to and from this place and when I got a place of my own I became a frequent visitor and shopper,’ @lcybluepearl2222 added.

@chloedarling9895 grew up spending their life shopping at the Wheatsheaf and added that ‘it fills my heart with such sadness to see it like this.’

‘I remember always going upstairs to the Argos ever since I was young,’ @lwvibes528 reminisced. ‘From queuing up as a kid ordering my Yu-Gi-Oh cards to buying my PlayStation and games.’

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