Shop in city over past few decades
pany went into administration. There is now a bargain shop in its place.
PETER’S BOOK SHOP
Situated in the Kingsway, the independent bookshop had two floors, but closed at the turn of the century. It was replaced with Info Nation, a drop-in centre for teenagers, offering information, advice and support.
JT MORGAN
The city centre business was, until its demise last decade, the oldest independent department store in Wales. It was based on Belle Vue Way and had hoped to move to the £30 million development in Princess Way, now home to various traders including Zara and Zinco Lounge, but the move never materialised.
MOTHERCARE
The shop once had a big presence in The Kingsway, where it traded for 30 years until it closed in 2005. It later opened a branch in Parc Tawe.
FREEMAN HARDY WILLIS
A chain of footwear retailers that had branches all over the UK. In the 1990s half its stores converted into Hush Puppies shops, but trade ended there in 1996.
TREASURE
Treasure sold a range of gifts and keepsakes, and traded in Swansea for 46 years. It was first situated in Whitewalls in the city centre from 1976 to 1978, before moving to Caer Street until 1996. There was also a branch near Cardiff Castle from 1984 to 2002, and its final branch, in Mumbles, closed in 2015. The property was taken over by Tesco.
HAPPY HOME FURNISHERS
The furniture shop traded from College Street for 27 years until it closed its doors for good earlier this year. But the business continues, having relocated to Phoenix Retail Park in Llansamlet.
SNOB
Another clothing shop popular with teenage girls and young women. It was another to eventually disappear from Swansea.
DYLAN’S BOOKSTORE
The independent bookshop was opened by author and Dylan Thomas expert Jeff Towns in 1970 at the top of High Street, but was best known at its location in Salubrious Passage. The antiquarian book specialist later moved to King Edward Road, and still lives on through Dylan’s Mobile Bookstore, a common sight at festivals and markets.
EDDERSHAWS
The name was synonymous with shopping in Swansea for 180 years. It started as a cabinet manufacturing and furniture showroom in High Street in 1835, but closed in 2013. It continued with a store in Cardiff, but that too finally closed in 2016.
ETAM
The clothes store traded for 40 years in Swansea, but that all came to end in 2005. Bosses decided to scrap the chain just months after it was bought by billionaire retail tycoon Philip Green.
BUMPER TO BUMPER
Situated in Dillwyn Street, the independent motoring accessory shop traded for more than 30 years until it closed in 2014.
JOHN MENZIES
The newsagents was situated in Oxford Street, and also sold records and tapes during the heyday of vinyl. A sign still exists at its rear inside Swansea Market.
TRAVELWISE
One of the city centre’s oldest travel shops, it closed in 2009. Situated next to the National Express ticket sales outlet in Plymouth Street, the company, which had been trading for around 50 years, blamed a move to people buying tickets on the internet.
GRINGO
The Fairtrade clothing and accessory company, which sold ethnic items from around the world, shut up its shop in Plymouth Street in 2011, after first trading from a unit in St Helen’s Road for around 15 years. The company’s wholesale business continues, however.
C&A
The international fashion retailer was once on almost every major high street across the UK, having had a presence in the country since 1922. Its last UK store closed in 2001.
CLIVE RANGER
The jewellers was based in Cardiff and opened in 1977, but also had stores in Swansea, which opened in 1982, and Bath and Bristol. But it went into administration in 2013.