Merry Hill Shopping Centre closing in June 1990. A further blow came when the local council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough, announced that it was bringing in parking charges throughout the area; this turned more shoppers away from local town centres, and towards the Merry Hill Centre, where parking remains free. Though there have been plans for introducing parking charges at the centre, this has been criticised, ironically, due to fears of impacting trade. In 2008, Merry Hill Centre, along with nearby Brierley Hill, was redesignated as the 'strategic town centre' of the Dudley Borough, and thus the focus of future local government investment. The Merry
Box Hill Central Shopping Centre Box Hill Central - South was originally opened in 1984 as "Box Hill Central", it was built when the old Box Hill railway station,and level crossing was removed, and Market and Main Streets were closed to traffic. The centre was refurbished in 1998 and in 2000 was acquired by the Centro Properties Group, who have since renamed it to Centro Box Hill South, though many still refer to it as Box Hill Central. Unusually, the shopping centre has a large indoor fresh food market located along the eastern edge of the complex. The original market opened in 1895 which was