The boss of Birmingham’s giant Bullring mall has spoken of his hopes to expand the centre with a cinema, bowling alley or casino.
General manager Tim Walley revealed his leisure ambitions as the development celebrated its tenth anniversary on Wednesday.
He said: “We believe customers see shopping as just part of the experience at Bullring.
“They also want to treat themselves to a meal and enjoy leisure opportunities, such as the cinema, bowling or going to a casino.
“That’s where we see an extra increase of Bullring, on the leisure side so the whole shopping day becomes fulfilled.”
Mr Walley spoke less than a week after it emerged officials at The Mailbox city centre development were also planning to install a cinema.
The Bullring is said to have attracted 400 million customers to the city since it opened.
But Mr Walley refuted suggestions it had sucked trade away from shops outside the complex – and revealed more big-name brands were on the way in.
“A lot of brands cannot afford to be in Bullring so the opportunity still exists for other brands to take space on the periphery,” he said.
“We know our customers shop outside of Bullring when they come.
“We hope in the next couple of months to make some positive announcements on the retail mix as some worldwide brands that have never been in Birmingham before are planning to move in.”
The iconic Selfridges design has become known around the world, even appearing as official wallpaper for operating system Windows.
It now boasts an average of 175,000 visitors a week and 9.1 million shoppers a year.
A series of catwalk shows are planned as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations, hosted by The Saturdays singer Mollie King.
The catwalk show will be staged five times at the Bullring on September 28, and fans will be able to see King live on stage at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm.
