in october 1980, retail giant j sainsbury opened one of its first savacentre hypermarkets in oldbury town centre. 20 years later, it was rebranded as a traditional sainsbury's store as the retailer gradually phased out the savacentre side of the business. the town saw a large expansion in retail since then, including a toys "r" us superstore on at birchley island, which opened in october 1988 and stayed open until the retail chain went out of business in 2018, and oldbury green retail park was built on the town's ring road in the mid-1990s. a homebase store which was built during the 1980s also relocated to the oldbury green development, with the previous building being taken over by gala bingo. this, along with the development of the merry hill shopping centre some six miles away during the second half of the 1980s, has contributed to a decline in the fortunes of nearby west bromwich town centre as a retail centre since the 1980s, although west bromwich has bounced back since the new square shopping centre opened in the summer of 2013.