Wedding dresses and more – so this shop should ring bells
IT WAS A MUCH-LOVED STORE AND WHEN WE ASKED FOR YOUR MEMORIES OF IT, 21,000 OF YOU RESPONDED
So sad but so evocative of a time gone by. That’s the photograph we shared with our readers of a much-loved Sunderland shop.
The 1991 scene of the Books store being demolished meant the end of an era, but it’s an era you have never forgotten.
We asked you for your memories of Books when we posted the photograph of its demolition on social media.
It struck a chord with more than 21,000 of you because that’s how many people the story reached. And not only that, 127 of you either ‘liked’ or ‘loved’ the post and dozens left their comments on what they remembered about Books.
It seemed to have been a haven for luxurious coats and especially for wedding dresses.
The popular shop was slap bang in the middle of one Sunderland Echo archive photograph – a famous scene showing the crowds which had built up for the Sunderland 1973 FA Cup homecoming parade.
Another shows it in the same view as the ABC cinema. But what about your memories?
Sandra Dixon said: “I still have a jacket I bought there still going. You can’t buy clothes now that last like they did back then.”
Stella Todd told us: “My grandmother loved that shop” while Andrea Anderson Lax said: “Used to meet the girls outside every Friday night, ready to hit the town.”
Julie Johnson Baker commented: “We always met there for a night out xx.”
Who else can recall Books being the meeting spot before a big night out in town?
Email chris.cordner@ jpimedia.co.uk and tell us more.
Then there were those of you who worked there.
Irene Beer said: “I worked here as a Saturday girl in the 50’, loved it” and Shirley Herbertson said: “I worked there 1982 to 85. Lots of lovely memories.”
Mandy Ochoa said: “My mam worked there in the 70s” and John Cheal reminisced: “My wife and my cousin worked there she loved it.”
Thanks also to Ann Luke for telling us:”My mother worked there and at Newcastle store prior to the SecWorld ond War. She
was a window dresser.”
Lots of
you took the time to tell us about the items you bought at the store and what a lot of vathere riety was. Karen Miller said: “I got Afghan coat from there 1972.” Trish Atkinson-was Dalton said: “I remember my mam taking us to a fashion show and my sister got her Afghan coat.” Christine Tait commented: “Lovely shop” and added: “Got my wedding dress there.” Dawn Simpson said: “Me too loved that shop xx.”
Brenda Brown remembered: “Got my Ocelot Lamb coat there , still have it .. Loved Books Fashions .. Sunderland lost all the good shops.”
Ann Carrick commented: “Got some lovely clothes there” and Marie Jones told us: “I got my wedding dress there as well xx.”
Wendy Woowoo Coakley gets our thanks as well for commenting: “Thats where I got my wedding dress from” and Anne CombeBlakeman was another to choose her wedding outfit from the place.
Lee Mckinney said his mum and sister both used Books “a lot in the 80s. Fond memories waiting for them.”
Jackie Walton commented: “My mam was quietly upset when it was demolished. It features heavily in her young adult life.”
Susan Goldsmith gets our thanks for remembering exactly where Books was.
She said: “On the corner of Vine Place down from Hays Travel where the buses stop and going around the corner towards TKMAXX.”
Then there were those of you who remembered the store which came after Books disappeared from the Sunderland scene.
Sheila Sanderson said: “Remember Scoop (after Books closed) got some good bargains there.”
Caroline Wilkinson said: “I loved Scoop!” and Julie Beck commented: “Me too. I bought my first pram out of Scoop for a hundred pounds in 1990.”
But most of you just wanted to share your love of Books and that included Isabel Bateman, Florence Nicholson, Maureen Young, Ann Carrick and Denise King.
Others to like the social media post on our Facebook site included Julie Rate, Maureen Hope, Ilene Campbell, Charlie Adams, Deborah Layfield, Jackie Davis, Allison Watson, Andy Nanson, Michelle Lundy, Val Green and Karen Ridsdale.
“I still have a jacket that I bought from there” SANDRA DIXON