Merry Hill Shopping Centre Dudley store also remained open, but closed in 2013. C&A, who had a store at Merry Hill from November 1989 until withdrawing from the UK in 2001, kept their Dudley store open until January 1992. Littlewoods kept their Dudley store open for two months after its Merry Hill replacement opened in November 1989, cashing in on the 1989 Christmas sales before closing in January 1990. British Home Stores had intended to continue trading from their Dudley store, but a sharp fall in trade following the Merry Hill store's opening led to the decision to close the Dudley store, with it
Merry Hill Shopping Centre autumn 1989, when construction began on The Waterfront development, which consisted of Phases 6-8. Phase 6 saw the construction of of offices (the first of which were occupied in December 1990), Phase 7 saw the construction of of restaurants and bars and Phase 8 saw the addition of a business park, which was completed in 1995. Waterfront Way was opened in early-December 1990 to serve the new complex and provide a road link to the shopping centre and also to the main A461 road. The Waterfront development created some 4,000 jobs, but the onset of the recession in 2008 saw