New food court a feast for shoppers
This video shows the multi-million pound food court at Merry Hill shopping centre in the final stages of construction - as the grand opening countdown begins.
This video shows the multi-million pound food court at Merry Hill shopping centre in the final stages of construction - as the grand opening countdown begins.
From 10.30am on October 22, hungry shoppers will be able to choose from three restaurants and 16 smaller food counters in the hall, with seating for 1,200 people to relax and enjoy their meals.
Centre manager Emma Hindes, aged 38, said: "We're very excited about this. It all came about after we talked to a lot of our customers and this was a key point made – they wanted more places to be able to sit down and eat.
"It's going to be perfect for people who want to come and spend a whole day here, especially during busy shopping periods like Christmas."
The £24million project has been in the pipeline for several years, with shopping centre bosses keeping a number of units on the upper floor empty as the plans took shape.
Construction finally began in August 2008, and created 150 building site jobs on top of the 200 retail jobs available at the centre in Brierley Hill. One of the main new features of the food hall is the two out-of-hours restaurants.
A large Nandos and Pizza Express face out onto a new car park, and will be open until 11pm, benefiting late-night shoppers and cinema-goers.
Both restaurants will feature upstairs eating areas leading into a conservatory-style open dining area, called The Orangery.
The Orangery will then open out into the food hall, where well-known high street brands such as KFC and Burger King will sit alongside lesser-known brands including Tiffinbites, Crepescape, Nineteen Ten Mexican Kitchen and Yangtze Express around the outside, with tables, chairs and feature seating in the middle.
Miss Hindes added: "Everything is coming along really well and we are right on schedule to open on October 22."
The opening event is set to be a day-long celebration with celebrity chef James Martin officially launching the court, a roadshow from Heart FM with music and live bands throughout the weekend.