Sheffield's Meadowhall celebrates 25th anniversary

It is 25 years since Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield opened for business. To help celebrate the landmark anniversary, its owners are hoping to track down some of the first shoppers through its doors.

For decades, motorists driving on the M1 were in no doubt they were in South Yorkshire when the Tinsley cooling towers loomed large at the side of the carriageway.

But on 4 September, 1990, a new landmark appeared at junction 34, boasting a green glass dome illuminated with hundreds of twinkling lights.

Meadowhall's arrival on the opposite side of the motorway was a demonstration that out of the ashes of the region's dwindling steelwork heritage, a new era of employment - and consumerism - had dawned.

Built on the site of the former Hadfield's plant, the 68-hectare complex was Yorkshire's first out-of-town shopping centre and the second largest in the UK at the time.

Thousands of people eagerly queued for the grand opening of Meadowhall on 4 September 1990

Thousands of people eagerly queued for the grand opening, including mum-of-three, Sharon Cooke.

"I was so excited, as I had watched it being built over the months," she said.

"The atmosphere was just electric, everyone couldn't wait to get inside and see what it was like.

"After that it became my second home. Everything seemed new and exciting, even the salad bars."

Barbara Sykes made a beeline for Boots on opening day and was rewarded with a free bottle of Chanel perfume when she became the store's first customer.

She is now an avid collector of Meadowhall memorabilia - particularly sticks of rock, T-shirts and pencils - and even switched on the centre's Christmas lights when Coronation Street's Reginald Holdsworth failed to arrive in time one year.

"When it first opened I absolutely loved it," she said. "I had seen American shopping malls and it reminded me of that.

"I loved the atmosphere and the shops and you felt safe and dry and warm.

"I can't believe it's 25 years old. I remember my dad saying, 'It'll never catch on'."

Sharon Cooke was one of the first shoppers through Meadowhall's doors

Burton Menswear manager Ken Bird has been a staff member since day one.

He remembers the buzz of opening day and how staff vied to work the first shifts.

"When 10am came and all the retailers could open their shutters, everyone was so excited, it felt like history in the making," he said.

"Then we saw this sea of customers coming towards us, they were just mesmerised by everything.

"We had coach trips coming, it was like a day out to the seaside - a real destination. It felt very special to be part of it and still does."

Meadowhall was one of a wave of out-of-town shopping centres built in the 1980s and 1990s.

It quickly became a fixture in the lives of a generation, catering to residents from South Yorkshire and beyond, and now welcomes 25 million visitors a year.

Even Sheffield's own Britpop icons, Pulp, mentioned "Sundays spent parading the aisles of Meadowhall," on their album, His 'n' Hers.

Tens of thousands of people visited the centre on its opening day

"Meadowhall was a huge deal because of its size," said Ed Cooke, from the British Council of Shopping Centres.

"People were still shopping in town and city centres, but big businesses were growing and smaller ones were closing.

"Purpose-built shopping centres provided better stores and made the most of their customers [in that] they provide a one-stop-shop for products as well a place to go for lunch or the cinema.

"It certainly had a different aesthetic to the high street, it had a wow factor."

Retail expert Kate Hardcastle said the boom in out-of-town developments was in response to changing attitudes among consumers.

Not since the advent of indoor shopping centres in the 1970s had shoppers seen anything new on the high street, she said.

"Nothing had evolved in many years and the 90s shopper was bored of the 9-5 hours and shops being closed on Sundays. It wasn't what they wanted.

"Travel was cheaper and people were going to America and seeing these malls and watching pop stars [on TV] like Debbie Gibson launch their careers in shopping centres."

Meadowhall is still one of the UK's largest centres of its kind and the allure of 310 retailers and 12,000 free car parking spaces continues to draw people in.

It is valued at £1.6bn, contributes 20% of business rates in Sheffield and hires 8,500 employees at peak times.

However its size and popularity has proved a double-edge sword for some, earning it the moniker 'Meadowhell' among locals.

Even super-fan Mrs Sykes will not darken Meadowhall's door come Christmas time, describing it as "bedlam".

But Ms Hardcastle said consumer chaos is only one reason for Meadowhall's Marmite reputation.

"It's a very Yorkshire, tongue-in-cheek mentality to make fun of something that causes a bit of misery," she said.

"But the other thing is that Meadowhall's transport links made it too easy for people from Sheffield and Rotherham to get there.

"When you do that you're taking businesses away from those areas. Those [places] deteriorated and people unfairly pointed the finger at Meadowhall."

Ms Hardcastle said South Yorkshire's towns and cities need to invest in their identities to lure people back, while the challenge for Meadowhall is staying fresh.

Owners British Land spent £7m refurbishing the Oasis food court in 2011 and announced in May it would be spending a further £50m on modernising the centre.

In recent years it has forged transport links with the nearby Motorpoint Arena and is scheduled to have a new station on the HS2 high-speed rail network linking Sheffield with London.

But for Meadowhall's owners and staff, 2015 is primarily a year of celebration.

Archive footage of their big moment in retail history shows how thousands of people could not wait to walk through its doors in 1990 and the centre's owners hope some of their starry eyed shoppers will spot themselves in the photographs.

Darren Pearce, centre director, said: "We want people to see the pictures and hopefully spot a loved one or a neighbour. Or if someone knows 25 years ago they were at the front of that queue we would love to hear from them.

"We know that people came from all over Yorkshire and beyond and we hope we will hear from customers from Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster, as well as further afield."

England's first out-of-town shopping centres

Brent Cross Shopping Centre, Greater London, 1976

Merry Hill, West Midlands, 1985

Metro Centre, Gateshead, 1986

Meadowhall, Sheffield, 1990

Lakeside, Essex, 1990

White Rose Shopping Centre, Leeds, 1997

The Trafford Centre, Greater Manchester, 1998

The Mall, Bristol, 1998

Bluewater, Kent, 1999

Source: The British Council of Shopping Centres