 The Malls were opened in 1981 with five major stores and a further 24 smaller units.Since this time, The Malls have seen only minor changes and improvements whilst The Walks have been upgraded dramatically, firstly having walkways roofed over and totally refurbished as part of £12M improvement scheme in 1987 and then undergoing a major rebuild and extension in 1998 to transform The Walks into Festival Place.A survey in 1999 (prior to the opening of Festival Place) ranked The Malls as one of the worst retail centres in the country, placing it 186th out of the 200 shopping centres included.