The second-biggest indoor
shopping mall in
Great Britain, located in the
Dudley Metropolitan Borough in the
Black Country part of the
West Midlands, in the
glassblowing and
ceramics hotbed near
Brierley Hill. (About halfway between
Birmingham and
Wolverhampton)...and
Centro is planning to extend the Metro tram service to Merry Hill by around 2005.
Known for its monorail system connecting the mall to a nearby office park and car parks as well as satellite shopping centers. The monorail, fully built and with cars installed, hasn't worked since about a week after it opened...prompting speculation that it inspired The Simpsons monorail episode.
Built on the site of the Round Oak steel mill which closed forever in 1980, this developmenmt, combined with "The Waterfront" business and office parks represent what the local council refers to as "the most vibrant, dynamic and powerful economic force within Dudley Borough and arguably the Black Country". But the shopgirls' and trolley-porters' wages are lower than the steelworkers' used to be...