Redditch Shipleys Bingo – Alcester Street

Shipleys was an independent first-floor club in Redditch’s South East Quadrant, and for a couple of decades it was the town centre’s main bingo hall. A 2008 council survey found around 54% of respondents who played bingo went to Shipleys, which tells you how dominant it was locally. The planning report describes a 32,000 sq ft block with the bingo upstairs and retail below, though that ground-floor space had already sat empty for over six years. We haven’t found what the building was before bingo, or when Shipleys first opened, so there’s no cinema or theatre angle here and no architectural or interior detail on record.

The closure has a clear reason, which is rare. In January 2020 BingoDaily reported that director Jim Shipley had announced the club would shut because trade had dwindled and the business was no longer sustainable. The final session was on Sunday 29 March 2020, with the lease due back to the landlord on 13 April. Covid landed just as it closed, but the decision was made before the first lockdown, so declining trade was the stated cause. The old bingo hall was stripped out as part of a scheme for self-storage plus new retail and restaurant units, and the result was promoted as StorMe. Redditch lost its dedicated town-centre bingo hall for good.

Other Lost Halls In The Area

• Worcester Buzz Bingo – Forgate Street
• Warley Plaza Bingo And Social Club – Halesowen Road
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – Swan Centre
• Birmingham Great Park Buzz Bingo – Park Way
• Birmingham Kingstanding Mecca Bingo – Kettlehouse Road
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – Bristol Road South
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – High Street
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – High Street
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – Walsall Road
• Birmingham Top Ten Bingo – Coleshill Road
• Birmingham Stockland Green Buzz Bingo – Streetly Road

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