Shops we loved and lost
With news Woolworths could make a comeback, we look at other iconic shops we’d love to see return to our high street
How times have changed when it comes to the shops on our high street! Walk around any town or city centre now and chances are it’s completely unrecognisable from the place it was in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. The shops we depended on and adored as children, windowshopping teenagers, or harassed new mums are now sadly gone, replaced by big modern stores that just don’t feel the same as those muchloved shops of yesteryear. But things could be about to change as former Woolworths brand director, Tony Page, recently announced that Woolies – as we affectionately called it – could be about to return to our towns. The latest is that Mr Page is trying to buy back the Woolworths name from Shop Direct, who have owned the brand since it went into administration in 2009 and ran the store online until 2015. While this new incarnation of Woolies is unlikely to be exactly as it was before, it would be lovely to have a store we have such fond memories of back on our high streets. Perhaps once again we’ll start repeating that old catchphrase of, “Woolies will have it!” whenever we needed anything. And surely a comeback would not be complete without a revival of the famous pick ‘n’ mix self-service counter – that supreme tool of bribery
IT’S A FACT! The first Woolworths store opened in Liverpool in 1909. Over the years it sold everything from gas appliances to goldfish, balls of wool to toiletries – including its own-brand Evette range. Ladybird clothes, Chad Valley toys and the WorthIt! value range were also big sellers for the store
many an addled mum relied on to get children to behave on a trip to the shops (while eating one or two herself, of course!) But what about the other shops of the past we miss from our weekly shop? How many of the following do you remember?