I walked around my Black Country hometown - what I found was devastating

However, in 2026, it’s a different story completely.

According to those who live in the borough (myself included), Walsall town centre is plagued by anti-social behaviour, yobs, aggressive beggars, and ‘nick-nack’ shops that have no shopper appeal.

Even worse, half of the shop fronts sit empty, derelict, or so unkempt that no one would dare enter them.

The council has promised that improvements are fast-coming for the town centre, with the ‘Connected Gateway’ works promising to reimagine and reinvigorate the heart of the town. But how much of a change will that really make?

Being a Walsallian through and through, I took a journey to my town centre to see if the ‘empty shop problem’ is really an issue, and what I think needs to be done to cure it.

Derelict shops

Walsall has long had an issue with its dissipating high street.

Big-name brands, such as Debenhams and H&M, have fled from the town centre by the dozens, leaving for the safety of McArthur Glen and similar other retail centres.

In fact, the Old Square, arguably Walsall’s premier shopping centre, next to the Saddlers, lies almost derelict, a long way from its ‘spud-u-like’ days.

Shops open and close faster than you can blink these days. You could walk into the town centre on Monday, see a new shop, and by Tuesday it would be gone, with barely enough time to even read the sign.

Asgard Games, which had operated in the town since 2013, opened a newer, larger store on High Street, opposite the market, in 2019, only to close due to voluntary liquidation in 2025.

Ghost Town

Other than the odd commuter or rare shopper, the centre feels mostly like a ghost town, devoid of any real passion or purpose.

Many people come for nostalgic reasons, but can only be heard moaning and complaining about the state of the town centre, and they’re not wrong.

The lack of apparent footfall makes the town centre feel unapproachable and unwelcoming, and opens the high street to its next biggest problem, anti-social behaviour and beggars.

One person we talked to even described the town as “zombie-like”, with people shambling from one shop to the next, but not really interacting with anything.

The yob problem

A big problem in Walsall town centre is its persistent problem with anti-social behaviour and aggressive begging.

You can’t walk to Tesco Extra without being accosted. “Buy me a drink!?” and when you tell them you aren’t going into the shop, “p**** off then!” they reply.

It’s unwelcoming, and it’s something that every Walsallian has gotten used to, but to an outsider, they would never return again.

Between aggressive beggars and teenagers in balaclavas racing through the streets on scooters and bikes, we understand why people refuse to return.

The cure?

Walsall Council’s regeneration scheme is a good first step in many of our (Walsallians) opinions, making the town neater and more attractive to the outside eye; however, would it make much of a difference?

If the high street looked nice, but consisted of pointless ‘nick-nack’ shops when you got there, would you really want to stay?

The general consensus from shoppers seemed to point towards turning Walsall into a multi-use destination, offering a mix of shopping, cafe-dining, and a pleasant nightlife. all packaged up in a nice surrounding.

Revitalising the market also seemed to be on everyone's lips, offering lower prices for new stall holders, and slowly raising the price as they grow in popularity.

Another suggestion was that the council should be more selective over which shops open on the high street via planning and licensing.

Whatever the cure, shoppers agreed that in its current state, there simply isn’t a reason to visit the town centre, and in the words of The Specials, ‘This town is coming like a ghost town’.