The Launch of In Shops

As part of a £5 million revamp of the already existing Kingsway Centre, what was billed as a new concept in South Wales opened in the form of ‘In Shops’. On Thursday 9th October, 1986 a grand opening unveiled the a complex of 163 units selling a wide variety of goods from toys and crafts to CDs and pies.

The concept wasn’t new and was the 19th to open in the UK by Midland Development since the company was launched in 1975. Another was also opened in Cwmbran town centre.

The 40,000 square feet of space on the ground floor of the Kingsway Centre which was formerly occupied by the Post Office and by Tesco (they vacated to move to Spytty).

Each unit was to be independently owned and could sell virtually anything they wanted.

It is the nearest thing you would recognise as a market but it is not a market. We are what you would call a speciality centre.

— Dave Whittington, Newport Director of In Shops

Shoppers seeking a change of style from conventional stores can have the refreshing experience of getting lost in a retail world which is packed with the unusual.

Mr Whittington reckons visitors will find themselves so engrossed in what is virtually a maze in shopping gems that hours could pass without them noticing.

In addition to the shops there were 7 catering units “selling everything from fish and chips, to Indian food to specialised salads”.

It means that regular visitors to the complex will be able to choose a different type of meal for everyday of the week.

Gala Launch

A large launch event was planned featuring Don Estelle who played Lofty in "It Ain't Half Hot Mum", comedian Norman Collier and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car.

The excitement of the occasion will be heightened by a line up of death defying acts including fire eating, knife throwing, the bed of nails and the crossbow of death escape, in which an escapologist will try to wriggle free from a chain bound coffin before a crossbow bolt is fired directly at him.

Traders on Opening Day

These adverts were published by the Argus showing a selection of shops on opening day. I can only vaguely remember the shops that were there but do wonder if the 'Records & Tapes' advert was for Hitman Music which started life there before moving to larger premises on Commercial Street?

Opening Day Report

More than 20,000 people visited on opening day both to visit the shops and to see the entertainment on offer. The footfall prompted managers to declare that "they were onto a winner" with the new shopping centre.

As part of the opening day gala, Morecombe's Don Lindbergh 'set himself alight and plunged sixty feet into a flaming vat' to the amazement of a Gwent crowd.

"Another day, another dollar"
— Don Lindbergh.