Tell your story of Freshney Place to help celebrate 50 years of shopping

FRESHNEY Place Shopping Centre is proud to be celebrating the past 50 years of retail and community support by displaying an exhibition sharing local peoples’ stories, experiences and memories.

The Step In To My Story exhibition will be open to the public from October and be made-up of 50 personal stories from customers, staff and the community, marking each year since the centre first opened its doors when it was called The Riverhead shopping precinct.

Some of the landmarks and names have gone, but many people will remember the Bull Ring, Friar Tuck Pub and shops such as Evington's and the Monkey, Pig and Pie shop (Fletchers) - renowned for its Pork Pies. Also, the two department stores, Lawson and Stockdale and Guy and Smith.

So, to celebrate the town centre, Freshney Place and the Grimsby Telegraph are appealing to anyone who would like to share their personal story or experiences, be that people who currently, or have run a shop or business within the town centre over the years, or anyone who simply has nice memories and would like to be included in the exhibition.

Amanda Austin, centre director said: “Fifty years is a huge milestone in retail so we wanted to celebrate the town centre and share all of our joint experiences with our customers and the community. It’s fantastic to hear about people’s early memories when the shopping centre was known as the ‘precinct’ before it was all enclosed.

“We have many loyal customers and staff, so we also want to hear what the centre means to people today, and those people who still love the personal shopping experience and variety of independent shops and high street chains.”

Freshney Place is Lincolnshire’s largest shopping centre and is visited by over 10 million shoppers per year.

If anyone would like to be featured in the exhibition, or for more information, please email; Freshney@rawcreativeltd.com