While the sandstone civic edifice, complete with classical columns and stone lions, evokes the mill town's heyday, time has not been kind to Crompton Place.
Opened with great fanfare in 1971, of its 46 units, only a handful of stores remain trading, including Primark and a few independents.
Inside, shoppers are few and far between in the brightly lit but low ceilinged walkways. A BHS sign still hangs on its upper floor, despite the department store chain's demise eight years ago.
It is almost the end of the line for Crompton Place, with its demolition scheduled for next year.
Bolton council, which bought Crompton Place for almost £15m from the Santander pension fund in 2018, plans to knock it down, saying the town has “a surplus of retail space”. In its place it wants to build a more attractive area that it hopes will draw new tenants to empty sites, part of a £1bn town centre redevelopment.
Crompton's demise is echoed in towns and cities across the UK. Tired shopping centres have become one of the biggest obstacles to reviving high streets. Often hemmed in by buildings and hugely expensive to overhaul, they have turned from assets to liabilities - victims of a vicious cycle of store closures. Councils are increasingly becoming the owners of last resort, buying shopping centres from investment funds.
About 60 of the UK's 500 bigger shopping centres are likely to be razed completely, and a further 200 could be partially demolished, according to a new report by the consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).
Outside that top 500, dozens more are at risk as major chains, such as Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser and Wilko, have dramatically downsized, while a number of former anchor stores such as Debenhams and Topshop no longer have a physical high street presence.
Denne historien er fra October 19, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra October 19, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Money hacks How to get your finances ready for a new baby
Raising a child from birth to the age of 18 costs, on average, £166,000 for a couple, and £220,000 for a lone parent in 2023, according to Child Poverty Action Group's annual cost of a child report. Affordability is regularly cited by people who would like to have children as a key reason for holding off doing so.
Teachers' pensions 'I'm in despair as my debts mount'
Delays to pension pot valuations are 'causing huge distress' and costing money for divorcing couples. Rupert Jones reports
Property Homeowners face huge bills when leases expire
Those unaware of how the system works can be left stumping up thousands despite paying off a mortgage. Diane Taylor reports
Price shock Are you feeling better off now? Why US voters should, but may not, say yes
Are you feeling better off now? Why US Voters should, but may not, say yes
Retail sales growth slowed in September despite boost from technology spending
Sales growth in shops in Great Britain slowed last month as an increase in purchases of technology was tempered by the largest monthly fall in spending at supermarkets this year.
UK care home chain sold to US investment company
One of Britain's largest care home chains, Care UK, has been sold to a US property investment company, the Guardian can reveal, in a deal that comes as private providers lobby government for a greater role in the NHS.
Flatten or refashion Can new purpose be found for empty shopping centres?
In Bolton's town centre, the gap-toothed brutalist facade of Crompton Place shopping centre faces off against its majestic Victorian town hall.
Ex-spy for India charged with masterminding US murder plot
US authorities have charged a former Indian intelligence officer with allegedly masterminding a murder-for-hire plot against a prominent Sikh separatist in New York City last year.
Tomb finds at Petra are thrilling - but what do they really reveal?
For one of the most famous ancient sites on the planet, there is a surprising amount about the city of Petra - and the Nabataean people who built it - that we don't know for sure.
Enough already The Tokyo company that resigns for you
Mari was just two months into her new job when she decided she had had enough. The position at an online bank in Tokyo, found through a staffing agency, had looked like a perfect fit for the 25-year-old, a member of Japan's legions of temporary workers. But she quickly became despondent.