The
Sainsbury's store opened in October 1998, while the rest of the centre opened in 1999. The Quays was constructed on the site of the old coal yards which served the Albert Basin. An old warehouse, which was part of these yards, was incorporated into the centre and is now used as office and retail space.
Roches Stores opened their first store in Northern Ireland in the centre in 1999, but this store was closed in February 2003 to make way for a new
Debenhams store next to it which opened in October 2004, and later closed in 2021. The former Roches space became more shops. In February 2018,
Marks & Spencer relocated from the Buttercrane Centre to The Quays where a new 30,000 sq ft store was built on the site of the old Sainsbury's filling station. In the same year, owner
Parker Green International sold off the centre. During the 2020s, The Quays lost most of its tenants due to declining footfall and the
COVID-19 pandemic, it went into
receivership in 2022. In September 2023,
Domino's announced that they are planning to open a restaurant in the new part of the shopping centre in 2024. In January 2024, it was announced that Urban Green Private would buy the shopping centre and Drumalane Mill, Urban Green also owns the
Marina Market and the former
Our Lady's Hospital in
Cork, among other properties. In August 2025, it was reported that Urban Green could either put the centre back up for sale or put it into receivership again, the centre struggled further under Urban Green's ownership with the centre losing more tenants and struggling to attract major names. The outside area of the centre remains successful. In March 2026,
EY were appointed as administrators to UGP Newry Limited, the holding company of The Quays, the company fully collapsed into administration a month after. Urban Green later brought back the centre under the holding company UGP Newry Shopping Centre Limited on 22 April 2026. ==Cross-border shopping==