Thousands of shoppers flock to West Bromwich's New Square
Almost 100,000 shoppers flocked to West Bromwich's £200 million New Square shopping complex during its first four days of opening, new figures show today.
A total of 21,000 people visited the centre on the opening day on Thursday with a further 73,000 people attending from Friday to Sunday.
The site, which is creating 1,200 new jobs and is anchored by huge Tesco Extra and Primark stores, boasts big-name high street retailers including Next, Bank, JD Sports, Outfit, Deichmann and Phones4U.
It is also home to a £3m five-screen Odeon cinema as well as restaurants Prezzo and Harvester. By lunchtime on its opening day more than 8,000 people had visited New Square and the car park was so busy at one point that bosses had to close it for 45 minutes because it was full.
Meanwhile, visitors to The Public in West Bromwich have soared since the opening. Since Thursday the number of people visiting the arts centre has increased by 55 per cent on the same period the previous week.
Steve Burr, general manager of New Square said: "We're been really pleased by the excitement generated by New Square's opening and many have commented how wonderful it is that New Square and The Public complement one another so well.
"The Public and New Square have worked together incredibly well with regards to the launch event, which has created a fantastic atmosphere for the opening weekend."
Matthew Magee, corporate affairs manager for Tesco, added: "The opening of New Square has been hotly anticipated and the launch day exceeded all our expectations, with the hot weather no doubt encouraging more people to visit the centre and soak up the exciting atmosphere of the launch, as well as the sun.
"The shops, restaurants and cinema all proved a huge hit with visitors across the weekend and feedback from both shoppers and retailers has been absolutely fantastic."
