Which shops do you miss?

[Kthxbye]

Woolworths for sure! Their pic n mix counter and Christmas tat
We used to have a stationers nearby (small chain in the north west) called Partners, it was amazing and started my obsession with stationery!
Any shop that sold stickers on the roll
I miss the House of Fraser of old…..

We had Partners in the North East too. It was a fab stationery shop!!

And in the same theme - Stationery Box

Woolworths
Miss Selfridge
Dolcis
Faith
Disney Shop
C&A
BHS
Borders Books

 

[Rosie glow]

Netto because it was so ghetto,you could find some random crazy things inside.

Loved netto the only shop where the carrier bags cost more than the tins of beans

 

[givepeasachance]

Does anyone remember Index?

It was basically like Argos

Man, I remember some serious queuing in Argos back in the day!

 

[Booington]

We used to have a stationers nearby (small chain in the north west) called Partners, it was amazing and started my obsession with stationery!
Any shop that sold stickers on the roll
I miss the House of Fraser of old…..

we used to have Partners in the Midlands, as a preteen me and my best friend were obsessed with it and went every week!

 

[whoareyouu]

House of Fraser.

I think there are still branches across the UK but they shut the one near me and it’s SUCH a miss at Christmas time.

I also miss Topshop.

Woolworths was great and reminds me of good times as a child. BHS, loved going in there with my Grandma.

Shopping just isn’t the same now!

 

[Silverback]

Early learning Centre was fab, their wooden toys were really good quality- everything they made was.
Remember when Debenhams had Rocha John Rocha and other designer lines? I miss those. Used to love a mooch in there through the beauty department and their cafe was always decent.
I will always miss TopShop Oxford Street. It was like a huge treasure trove with such a great vibe.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

There seems to be so many high street shops closing that I thought we can discuss any popular ones that have now, sadly, closed.

I used to enjoy buying clothes from Principles, and still miss them.

But the biggest loss IMO is Debenhams. It was my go to for shoes, as they had a huge selection of many brands, all under one roof. I also bought the majority of my Xmas shopping at Debenhams, especially on Black Friday as their offers were brilliant. Many of their stores still remain empty and don't look good in cities and shopping malls.

And now, I've just realised that The Perfume Shop seems to be closing many of their outlets, which I regularly visited.

The people behind Principles started up Mint Velvet which is still going strong.

 

[Dragon100]

I really miss Principles it was my fave clothes shop back in the day (and a family friend worked there and used to put stuff by while I either thought about it or waited for payday). Also really miss Woolworths, rarely did you not find what you were looking for in homewear, Christmas gifts for friends children it was great. Woolworths closed about 3 weeks before I moved into my house my kitchen is full of basics purchased in the 75% off in the Woolies closing down sale, most of them I am still using today.

As for the house of Fraser - I last went there over 7 years ago to buy a decent toaster as £9 cheapy one was dying and we had received a gift card for them as a wedding pressie and I put about 50p towards a silicone spoon to use the voucher balance, both toaster and spoon are amazing but wouldn't have gone to HOF if I didn't have a gift card! I don't know how they survive! Hubby looks for my Christmas and birthday gifts every year but leaves empty handed, telling me it's like a ghost town!

 

[zoominmoom]

How DOES HMV keep going? Haven’t bought. DVD or CD in years

It feels a bit weird in there now. It's always dead and they stock a strange mix of things. Nobody wants DVDs or CDs so the focus seems to be selling Funko Pops and other such tat that, again, nobody wants (but some people must otherwise they'd stop selling them!).

 

[PumpkinKing]

Netto because it was so ghetto,you could find some random crazy things inside.

I remember telling my mum I’d rather die than take a Netto bag to school

C&A
Woolworths
Bay trading
Dolcis

 

[thegirlscout]

There are more restaurants than proper shops now.

It’s restaurants, cafes and charity shops now! I went somewhere last weekend and the market square (which is small) has 8 food places/cafes and 2 actual shops. It’s ridiculous.

Past Times

I wish there was a shop like this now

but I miss catalogues the most, more so at this time of year and making my Christmas list. You can see old Argos ones online, gives me all the nostalgia feels of fave toys I had as a kid, and also good for a laugh if you are an oldie like me.

Sounds odd but I can still smell the Argos catalogue - used to always want Barbies!

 

[LouSV]

Back in the early days of Trafford Centre we had both Bath and Body works and The Pier
Loved and miss them both even now

 

[Chocolategoggler]

It's easy to forget just how many great shops have now closed. I hope all the staff who lost their jobs (absolutely thousands) managed to find employment elsewhere.

One of the assistant managers at Dorothy Perkins is on You Tube. Dainty Diaries. She's a nice girl.

 

[JoJo76]

Whitakers in Bolton?
A great store.

I used to work at Prestons of Bolton and still feel sad knowing it's gone.

 

[Milktray]

I apologise for turning this into a Bolton thread

I'm from Bolton myself, so no issues from me!

 

[Piff paff puff]

Snob , which was part of etam

Didn't know this. Combining two posts in one as I was going to name snob as my fav missed shop.

It feels a bit weird in there now. It's always dead and they stock a strange mix of things. Nobody wants DVDs or CDs so the focus seems to be selling Funko Pops and other such tat that, again, nobody wants (but some people must otherwise they'd stop selling them!).

Maybe it's just used to wash cash through like the American sweet shops, nails, coffee, Turkish barbers etc.

 

[Happy Lady]

I think we all agree that there's nothing like Debenhams or House of Fraser any more. We all need them. Whenever I needed new shoes, Debenhams was my go to as they had most brands for sale.

@Katienana I've just bought a fab new duvet from Dunelm. Worth a look if you need one.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

Just looked him up, his wiki page doesn't have spouse or relationship details.

Alan Thompson (footballer, born 1973) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No,his wife dumped him after he got with a Britney lookalike - midlife crisis????

 

[soph30]

Bookshops that are not Waterstones.

We had two Waterstones in our high street at one point. Ridiculous.

Even Waterstones have gone downhill. Those new white ones are crap and full of gifts

 

[Milktray]

We used to have InShops, which I miss.
It was like a little shopping village...I know there were a few dotted around the country.
I remember being able to get stuff in the InShops that I couldn't get anywhere else. I could actually go in and place an order for Commodore 64 cassettes and Sweet Valley Twin books.