What was your favourite shop as a child?

[ohellio]

My mum used to take us to the local florist. It was more than a florist though; it sold things like bird seed in little plastic tubs (which I used to stand and push my hands through - I still love that feeling to this day). They sold dog leads and I used to save my pocket money so I could buy a new one every now and again for my little toy dog that I carried around. I still remember the smell of the green oasis stuff that the flowers were stuck into, and the smell of the bird peanuts. They had a lovely, elderly black and white cat called Crackers who just LOVED the strokes. We called it 'Cracker's Shop'.

I also have fond memories of our local Safeway as it was the first time I was allowed out unsupervised. It was only to buy a pint of milk, but MY GOD I still remember the fear that I'd get to the till and not have enough money.

I'd love to hear about other's favourite / most memorable childhood shops.

Othellio now that’s a worry!!

The Silver Lounge. It was a family run cafe restaurant in town. As a young teenager, we'd go there and feel very grown up, drinking milky coffee out of glass mugs in a stainless steel casing. And the ice cream sundaes were legend!

Trago mills. The shell shops in st ives

Woolworths, C&A and then later on Tammy Girl, all fabulous!

And also an amazing little local shop which sold wool, and absolutely loads of the most beautiful buttons all in little tubes!

Woolworths - everything I wanted in one place. Loved flicking through the posters in those big racks.
Fenwick's - it felt very fancy.

Anywhere that sold dolls house furniture. I remember being around 10 & my DF taking me to spend my pocket money. Oh the delights! I remember a fridge with miniature ice trays etc, tiny food, candelabras, little gold framed oil paintings. And I had enough left for an Action Man special operations kitbag!

When I was a bit older I used to love going to the Stationery Shop to buy stickers for my sticker book. Everyone in my class at that time collected stickers. I used to spend ages choosing the best packs and then going home and taking ages sticking them into my books in careful patterns.

Brilliant thread. Lol at smoking cinnamon sticks

I used to like Woolies, mainly for the pick and mix, although I did once get a coconut mushroom with a dead fly squashed in it however that didn't put me off pick and mix, I always used to get it.

I also used to love any bookshop, especially if it was one you went to while on holiday - I usually got some spending money and always spent it on books/stationery. There was a great bookshop/newsagents/sstationery shop in Looe as I recall. It was just a massive treat going in there and knowing I could definitely buy something - as the money would be burning a hole in my pocket!

@MiniDoofa I was going to mention Blacklers as well - I loved that shop!! Did you go to the Christmas grotto as well??

I think we can all agree that Woolies was amazing. The pick n mix is something that will stay with me until my dying day.

Casey’s Chocolate shop in Edinburgh. Beautiful Easter eggs, lots of ribbons and boxes, gone now unfortunately.

Children's world cos of the yellow spiral slide they all had 😀

Then the haberdashery shop on our indoor market. It used to sell a whole array of Newey Goodman stuff which is a company my dad used to work for. And the buttons. Tubes and tubes and tubes of button. Even though they had an example on the kid it was so satisfying pulling the whole tube out to see alllllll the button s in their unfaded glory

I loved Weigh n Save because I looked looking into all the bins.
Pet shop with the dog biscuits in big barrels for you to pick and mix.
And Piggy Malone, which sold a mix of everything I think.

I came on to say woolies, the pick and mix, buying a CD single with my pocket money.

But I've just been reminded of children's world, it was amazing with the slide, i think I remember having my feet measured in there and i loved that because it tickled! I loved to play upstairs in the play houses too.

A really old-fashioned toy shop called Moore's. Two floors of all kinds of toys and craft stuff.

WH Smith for pens, paper and notepads.

A shoe shop whose name has escaped me. It had a mechanical toy monkey in the window that twirled around a bar like a gymnast.

Allied Carpets, well one in Leicester anyway. There was this ball pool pit in one of the corners I would play in while my Grampy would look at the carpets.

It. Was. Awesome.

The walrus in shipston upon stour. My grandparents lived there and it was the most fabulous toy shop that sold all sorts of rolls of shiny stickers by the till.
It was still there about ten years ago when I visited not sure if it still is. It was like an Aladdin's cave.

Freeman Hardy & Wills for the shoes (pointy toed lace up numbers to be specific)

Woolies for my single every Saturday

A wonderful independent stationers (which I can’t forget r the life of me remember what it was called) for the fancy pencils and sented rubbers.

MFI. Many a happy memory of wandering around there with my parents & little sister on a Sunday afternoon choosing how I’d decorate my bedroom or my house when I grew up!
Our local chemists also had an awesome toy section.
I grew up in Cheltenham & they had a sweet shop called Confetti that was all mirrored & filled with pick & mix. Silver chocolate smartie things, jelly sweets etc. It was heaven!!

There was a sort of slightly posh china knickknack shop a couple of towns away I occasionally managed to go to with dm.
Among the china shepherdesses and things like that they sold these tiny dolls. They were 2" tall, and either you got them dressed (for 45p or 55p) or naked in a bath with a towel (£1).
I collected them and got to about 52 before they stopped selling them. I was aiming for 60

C&A is in South America! It was amazing!

WHSmith for books and stationary, could lose hours in there trying to decide what I could get for my pocket money, even better if it was birthday money.

Cheap shop called Rollers(I think) they sold household stuff downstairs, toys upstairs, mu DM bought me a baby doll from there, so big you could put proper baby clothes on it.

Boswells, department store, still there but not half as good now as when I was a kid, like most things

The C & A had a massive black coin operated horse, with a saddle! It was the best thing ever,

Allied Carpets

^ Curveball right there

The Body Shop, when it was new. Soaps in the shape of fruits blew my mind.