Rochdale Riverside Turns Five!

Monday, 21 April 2025 15:45

By David Murphy

Rochdale Riverside is thriving at five! The popular retail and leisure destination marked the milestone in style during the Easter half term holiday, celebrating its 5th birthday with a day of celebrations, entertainment and giveaways.

From face painting and character meet-and-greets to exciting competitions, the event brought together the community to celebrate five fantastic years of shopping, dining, and leisure.

The celebrations saw M&S presented with the Best Store Award, in recognition of its outstanding customer service and shopping experience, with over 500 votes cast by Rochdale Riverside shoppers to decide the overall winner.

Rachel Byrne, Centre Manager at Rochdale Riverside shared her excitement:
"We’re incredibly proud of how Rochdale Riverside has flourished over the last five years. With fantastic new brands, strong retailer success, and a loyal community of shoppers, we look forward to even more exciting years ahead!"

Opening in 2020 amidst the challenges of the COVID outbreak, Rochdale Riverside has gone from strength to strength. Five years on, it’s a bustling shopping and leisure hub, attracting top brands, food hotspots, and thousands of visitors each week.

And the momentum isn’t slowing down! Two big-name brands have recently joined the Riverside family in Holland & Barrett and Taco Bell.

And it’s not just new stores making headlines. Greggs has upsized its store, proving that business is booming at Rochdale Riverside. Footfall and car park usage are also up, showing that shoppers can’t get enough of this growing retail destination.

With just one unit left available, Rochdale Riverside is proving itself as a go-to shopping hotspot, home to M&S, Next, H&M, River Island, Boots, JD Sports and more, alongside leisure favourites Reel Cinema and Putt & Play from Hollywood Bowl.

Councillor Danny Meredith, cabinet member for regeneration at Rochdale Borough Council, said; “Rochdale Riverside is a real success story and I’m delighted to see how popular it is with our residents and visitors. It’s gone from strength to strength since opening five years ago and it’s now a vital part of our newly regenerated town centre.”