Merry Hill Shopping Centre had agreed to become tenants of a new department store in the final phase of the shopping complex. It opened on 23 October 1990, replacing the recently closed stores in nearby towns West Bromwich and Dudley; the retailer had hoped that its Merry Hill store could co-exist with the West Bromwich and Dudley stores, but the onset of the recession and a general downturn in trade in these towns led to the closure of both stores on 25 August 1990. On 24 December 1990, the shopping centre was sold to Mountleigh. Development of the steelworks site did not commence until
Darwin Shopping Centre on Pride Hill. Further access can be gained via the dual frontages into the centre offered by W H Smith, Marks & Spencer and H&M. It is joined to the Riverside Mall and the Pride Hill Shopping Centre via a pedestrian walkway and Raven Meadows. The centre is connected by a pedestrian link directly to council-owned multi-storey parking at 'Raven Meadows' and to the town bus station, which is in turn a short walk to Shrewsbury railway station. The centre is an unusual example of a vertical mall. Similar to the Pride Hill Shopping Centre, it is built on the