Salford Shopping City at 50: It's people, pride and long battle to survive

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A corruption scandal which rocked the Labour party delayed the opening. It was sold off by the council and has had three owners since. In the face of a slick neighbour two miles down the road, out of town developments and predictions of the death of the High Street it has had tough times. Over two infamous days in 2011 it was a target for rioters.

But it is perhaps the heart of the second city. Salford Shopping City as it was, now Salford Shopping Centre, or simply "The Precinct," as locals call it, survives against the odds. This year is its 50th anniversary, and to mark the milestone it has an artist in residence.

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On a late spring morning blessed by sunshine the sprawling 1972 building, which has had an already dated revamp of white plastic and glass Toblerone-shaped canopy entrances, is ticking over nicely. Most traders will tell you footfall has taken a hit thanks to covid and years of retail decline. But it retains something else - the soul of a city.

Prakash Agranal, 65, has had a bags and suitcases stall for more than four decades. "I have been at Salford Precinct altogether for 44 years - starting on the outside open market. I have been in the inside market in the shopping centre since 2019 and before that I was in the food hall."

He admits business has dipped since the days when he was in the open air, as the ludicrously optimistic "We're All Going On A Summer Holiday" blasts from the stall next door.

He believes the centre would benefit from a touch of modernisation, and the filling of empty units. But he gets by thanks to loyal customers. "I get grandmothers. mothers, and granddaughters all from the same families coming. In the last five