Inside the UK shopping centre that only has one store left

Eerie photographs show a shopping centre in Bristol with just one store left following a slow decline over 20 years.

St Catherine's Place in Bedminster is now a shell of its former self, with only a Farm Foods shop remaining following the closure of an Iceland supermarket earlier this year.

Images show empty corridors surrounded by boarded-up shop windows and old posters, while street art and graffiti can also be seen on the centre's roof, surrounded by worn paint and dirty walls.

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The shopping centre has experienced a steady downfall over the last two decades. Only half a dozen stores were left in 2018, and in 2020 three stores remained.

But there are still plans to refurbish the centre, build a large block of flats next door, and turn it into a thoroughfare from the new Bedminster Green regeneration area to East Street.

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But while planning permission was granted, it appears nothing has happened for two years, BristolLive reported.

The main entrance to St Catherine's Place is on East Street, Bristol's largest retail area outside the city centre.

While it too has seen years of decline, with some big names moving out – including Argos and Bonmarche – there are signs that things are on the up in East Street.

An increasing number of independent stores and businesses are opening up there, lured by the empty units, cheaper rent, council incentives and the longer-term promise of the regeneration of the area.

There remain plans to refurbish, regenerate or even rebuild St Catherine's Place and work is already under way on huge student accommodation blocks and a 17-storey block of flats next door.

It comes after shopping centre footfall increased by 11.7% in February year-on-year, 0.7 percentage points worse than January's rate but slightly better than the three-month average rise of 11.3%, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

But compared to pre-pandemic levels, total footfall was 8.8% lower – high streets by 7.7%, while retail parks decreased by 2.7% and shopping centres by 23.3%.