Walsall's Showcase Cinema being turned into car showroom
The former Showcase Cinema in Walsall is being turned into a car supermarket after the cinema shut for good.
The site next to Junction 10 of the M6 has been bought by Trade Centre UK which plans to transform the site into the largest car supermarket in the Midlands.
Many cinema-goers will be saddened by the loss but the car supermarket bosses have announced the move will bring extra jobs to the area.
Trade Centre UK has said the car supermarket will open in Walsall next year but as yet no firm date has been given for the official opening.
The car supermarket will replace the current store in Wednesbury which will be redeveloped into a "central preparation centre" to support the car supermarkets in the Midlands, North West and Yorkshire.
All existing retail staff are to be relocated to the new store and the company has said that it will be hiring extra staff at the Wednesbury preparation centre.
Trade Centre UK is one of the fastest growing used car retailers in the country and was ranked number one independent retailer in the 2020 Car Dealer Magazine.
The Trade Centre Group was founded by Mark Bailey in 1999 and remains 100 per cent owned by the Bailey family.
It operates six car supermarkets in the UK with two in Wales that operate under The Trade Centre Wales brand at Neath and Cardiff North.
There are four in England at Wednesbury, Coventry, Rochdale and one which recently opened in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Tim Carr, chief executive officer, said: "We are proud to grow our business once again within the West Midlands region,
"With direct frontage to the M6, there is not a better location in the UK for our brand.
"We look forward to the new store opening with excitement."
Showcase closed all cinemas, including in Walsall, last November with the news of the second lockdown.
