HISTORY : Part I
Two Brothers, Benjamin and Samuel Mander lived in a house half way down St. John’s Street, which ran in those days from Dudley Street to Victoria Street. They started making carriage varnish in their back garden in 1773 and gradually acquired properties up and down St. John’s Street. Their descendants developed a varnish and paint works in the heart of the Town Centre as the business grew which eventually occupied 2 and a half acres of the Town Centre.
Owning two and a half acres of the site which we now know as the Mander Shopping Centre, Manders submitted an Application for Planning Permission during the mid 1960’s to construct a comprehensive Shopping Centre. This entailed acquiring surrounding lands to assemble a site of 5 acres - the present size of the Centre. No public money was used for this venture and it is acknowledged that the Company’s investment in the Town Centre represented a considerable achievement. The funding Partner for the development was Prudential.
At the begining of the 1960 the Board received approaches from a number of Property Developers. Murrayfield Properties Limited who had acquired the site of the Star & Garter Hotel which was sited between the varnish works and Vicoria Street. Murrayfield Properties wanted to develop the whole of the site situated between Victoria Street, Queen Square, Dudley Street and Bell Street, and create a shopping development. The Board, however, decided to undertake the development themselves and for that purpose, incorporated Manders Property (Wolverhampton) Limited.
The construction of the Centre was carried out in phases. The initial works commenced in June 1965. The first phase was completed in 1968 and the second phase in 1972. The third and final phase was completed in 1976.
The Mander Shopping Centre occupies a site once home to the elegant 
Victorian Central Arcade which was sadly burned down by a fire in 1970. The old Arcade was soon replaced with the new Central Arcade, which can be accessed from Dudley Street.
When the Centre was built, a multi-storey car park was constructed providing safe and secure parking for 550 cars. There is also a substantial Service Basement which can accommodate up to 90 goods vehicles at any one time. Each shop unit is serviced from the main Service Basement either directly into shop basements via loading decks or via service core lifts and corridors leading to the rear doors of each shop unit.
The Mander Centre also boasts a prestigious office complex namely Mander House, which sits on the roof of the multi-storey car park. The block comprises of 10 floors and is host to a very select selection of office tenants ranging from Solicitors, Accountants and Bankers.
Because of the original connection between the Mander Family and the Mander Group of Companies who made it all possible, there was a considerable element of civic pride when the Mander Centre was built. As a result the Mander Centre was constructed to a very high standard of finishes and won a 
Civic Trust Award. The plaque can still be found mounted between the Scenic lifts at Square Level.
Wightwick Manor, was a former Mander home and is now in the hands of the National Trust, was one of the first properties of its kind to have fully installed electric lighting and purpose built bathrooms . The Mount Hotel at Tettenhall is another Mander home. This house was built on the profits of the family firm and is now a very popular hotel and Conference Centre, boasting beautiful grounds and gardens.
In the mid 1930’s Mander Brothers, as they were then known, acquired an old munitions factories of 1914/18 vintage at Heath Town and that is where Manders Paints and Inks moved to.
Several members of the Mander family have served on the local Council and indeed a number of the family served as Mayor. Another member of the family, 
Sir Geoffrey Mander served as a Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West during the 1930’s and throughout the 1939/45 War.
HISTORY : Part II
Location:
The Metropolitan Borough of Wolverhampton is the designated sub-regional Shopping Centre for the north western sector of the West Midlands. It is located approximately 14 miles north west of Birmingham, 7 miles west of Walsall and 18 miles east of Telford.
The City is a focal point of a number of major trunk roads which directly link to Junction 10 of the M6 (approx 5 miles to the east), Junction 2 of the M54 (approx 4 miles to the north) and Junction 2 of the M2 (approx 7 miles to the south east). The Western Orbital Motorway connecting the M42 and the M54 motorways has improved accessibility and opened new areas for employment.
Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre are readily accessible via the M6 motorway, whilst the rail network provides an InterCity service from London(Euston) with a journey time of approximately 2 hours.
Economy:
Wolverhampton has a historically strong industrial base with major employers in the area including Goodyear, Dowty, Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, Chubb & Tarmac. Among the principal office employers are Wolverhampton City Council and Birmingham Midshires Building Society.
Retail Catchment:
The resident population of 247,200 persons (1992 Census) does not reflect a true guide to the shopping potential of the City which has an estimated catchment population of approximately 375,000 persons. The influence of the Centre extends over a wide and prosperous geographical area.
Acknowledged by retailers as one of the West Midland’s most successful covered Shopping Centres The Mander Centre occupies a prime central site extending to approximately 5.5 acres and is bounded by Dudley Street, Queen Square, Victoria Street and Bell Street. It provides the focal point for retailing in Wolverhampton, linking the pedestrianised thoroughfare of Dudley Street with the Cities principal department store, Beatties in Victoria Street.
The Mander Centre is a prestigious covered, fully pedestrianised shopping complex at the hart of the central shopping area of the City, with easy access to and from car parking facilities around the City centre.
The Centre is supported by a number of major national multiple retailers including Bhs, Woolworths, Boots, Tesco WH Smith, TJ Hughes and Dixons. The development also contains many other household names and specialist retailers providing comparative shopping facilities which are unrivalled within a reasonable distance.
During the last 30 years, the Centre has received many accolades, including a Civic Trust award in 1969 and the AA Gold Award for secured car parks, the first ever given in Wolverhampton and the second in the West Midlands.
Description:
The Mander Centre was built in phases between 1965 and 1976 and was subsequently refurbished in 1987. It provides a covered Shopping Centre at the heart of the City Centre with a strategic link between Dudley Street and Victoria Street and adjoining the Wulfrun Centre at Gallery Level. In 2004 the Centre was again reburbished.
The total retail floor area is approximately 484,500 sq ft, the offices comprise approximately 57,110 sq feet supported by on-site car parking for 550 vehicles. The car park is controlled and operated by the Landlords and is access from Bell Street. There are a further 16 defined car parking spaces at Basement level for the benefit of the office tenants in Mander House.
Excellent servicing is provided at Basement level approached from Bell Street. The Centre Manager’s office is located on 5th Floor, Mander House and can be accessed via the escalators at the North End, Gallery level.
The Shopping Centre was extensively refurbished in 1987 and became the first centre in the UK to incorporate a barrel vaulted polycarbonate sliding roof. Whilst retaining natural ventilation, it opened automatically in the event of fire. However, under the 2004 refurbishment the sliding roof was replaced with a fixed option to enable the shopping environment to become fully climate controlled.