“Free delivery is killing off stores” – The Decline of the Forge Shopping Centre

The Forge is 30 years old this month 

Back in the late 1980s, the Forge Shopping Centre was a phoenix rising from the ashes of what was once Scotland’s largest steelworks. At the heart of the engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate William Beardmore and Company Parkhead Forge employed over 20,000 people at its peak. But with deindustrialisation and a stint of different owners the Forge as a steelworks site closed for good in 1983.

Then in 1988, the Forge Shopping Centre opened to the public. Built under the GEAR (Glasgow East Area Renewal) scheme it was intended to bring development potential to the East End under Europe’s largest urban regeneration project. At the time the Forge broke new grounds with the largest supermarket in Scotland but in recent times it has been dwarfed by the likes of Silverburn in Pollock (over 3 times the size of the Forge) and faces stiff competition from the erection of 13 newly opened stores since its inception.

“It’s getting really quiet now. When we started it was really busy; we were mobbed every day. It’s calmed down in the last few years,” says Derek Brady, owner of a fruit stall in the Forge.

Like many shopping centres, the Forge has seen its revenue drop over the years due, in part, to the likes of Amazon and free delivery offered by big fashion stores. Many people see no need to make their way into a physical store when they can order the groceries and clothes from the comfort of their own home.

“[Business] is definitely worse. I would say it’s at least half down from the good old days,” says Charlie Hamilton, owner of Charlie’s Butchers, which has been at the Forge since it opened. “Everybody seems to be tight with money. You read in the newspapers and watch on the TV how the high street is struggling – even these big department stores are struggling. I don’t think we are immune to it.”

With wages falling in the UK and rise of international billion (and even trillion) dollar companies who can offer products at a cheaper price, along with free next day delivery, it’s clear to see how globalisation has played a factor in the decline of the Forge, as well as the high street.

Jade Willkie, Marketing Manager for the Forge believes there is still a place in the world for her shopping centre. “I’m a girl from the East End. This is my community centre; this is my local. This is where I’d come if I needed to nip for something.” For her, shopping is secondary after giving families something to do and somewhere “to feel safe”.

The Forge may go on, but its glory days are over. In the midst of one of the poorest areas in Scotland, the Forge has brought jobs and wealth. However, it’s a two-way street and people aren’t buying as much as they used to. The Forge simply can’t compete on the same level as a shopping centre aimed at wealthier families or offer expensive restaurants, but it can bring to customers what they want: their weekly shop, bits and bobs and somewhere to take the family.