Store that became a staple of North East
THE former Grangeway Shopping Centre in Preston Grange, North Shields, is said to be responsible for a little piece of retail history.
In the early 1960s, the national company which ran the centre, Allied Suppliers Ltd, was looking for a name for a new discount shopping store there. After a bit of head scratching, they decided to remove the ‘n’ from Preston and named the new store Presto.
It was an instant success and Presto stores would proliferate around the UK, with the brand becoming a household name for the nation’s shoppers. The new supermarkets would often open in newfangled ’60s and ’70s shopping centres. As well as at Preston Grange, they popped up in our region in new purpose-built centres in Gateshead, Washington, Wallsend, Jarrow and elsewhere.
The brand remained a major name in the retail world – with its own memorable TV advert catchphrase ‘you’ll be impressed at Presto’ – until the late 1980s when many of the supermarkets became Safeway stores. The name was briefly revived before disappearing for good in the late 1990s.
Our full-page Presto advertisement, from an Evening Chronicle in July 1972, shines a light on the shopping tastes and preferences of 50 years ago, as well as the ridiculously cheap prices by today’s standards. It’s worth noting, of course, that the average UK weekly wage for a man back then was £36, and £20 for a woman. And inflation, as the prices of goods and services constantly rose, was regarded as the chief economic woe of the times. Incidentally, according to the Office for National Statistics, today’s average prices are nearly 15 times higher than the average prices of 1972.
Let’s briefly step back to the shopping aisles of a Presto supermarket 50 years ago with our retro advert. First up, how about some of the unique ’70s favourites on sale? Cadbury’s Smash at 13p; Vesta Curries at 18.5p; a tin – yes a tin – of Heinz Beefburgers at 18p; and a tin of Tyne Brand Sliced Pork at 16p.5.
Plenty of the products are still supermarket staples in 2022. How about a bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup for 12p; Bird’s Eye Fish Fingers for 19.5p; Bird’s Eye Garden Peas for 13.5p; and Bird’s Eye Cod Fillets for 27p?