Does anyone miss Debenhams/BHS?

[Hairbrush123]

I had a catch up with a friend earlier who said she misses Debenhams a lot and misses the staples she’d buy from BHS. I forgot until just today that they ever existed . My local town centre never had a Debenhams or BHS so maybe that’s why!

Does anyone else miss them?

I miss Deb's just for the fact you could try stuff on. I would take lots of options into the Changing Room and something would usually suit.

I miss Debenhams. It was the only shop in my city with a bra selection that fit me 😫

BhS slim fit school trousers in a genuine Extra Long length, a full 10 cm + longer than the same age group standard length. I bought the last 2 pairs available in the country for DS when BhS closed. Nowhere else ever came close for genuine beanpoles.

Miss Debenhams duvets. We need a new one and DD had a gorgeous one from their closing down sale which I'm trying to replicate from somewhere....

I miss Debenhams so much !!! Every time I pop into town it actually upsets to see the empty building with mannequins still in the window .
I used to make a day of it , start with a coffee on top floor then browse for ages and finish with a cake and a coffee on the ground floor . Liverpool store . Liverpool one seems so empty without it .
I literally bought all my clothes there , loved the sales .
Not the same online .

In general I miss being able to try stuff on, so mainly look at M&S and Next now. I liked basics from Bhs and they really lasted so I think I have some clothes that would be fine if I hadn’t put weight on in the years. Also got lights from BHS.

Debenhams I liked Maine and Mantaray. I have bought once online but at that point you could collect in store. I haven’t looked at the options now. I do understand why they closed though. The local one to me was dark and depressing for years.

@Thehogfatherstolemycurry

I miss BHS and C+A too.

I miss Clock House at C&A. Loved that stuff

I miss BHS but only at Xmas time. Used to love a good mooch around the gift section.

I miss both in some ways, but both chains suffered from very similar problems - the main one being that they had too many stores to keep up the pace on modernisation. I remember a friend being stunned that I bought an outfit she’d admired in Debenhams, as our nearest store was very old-fashioned looking. I’d bought it from a brand new branch that actually made you want to go in and look around.

The same was true for BHS. My friend bought me this lovely set of glasses from there a few years ago, and I still have a table lamp from there that I love - but if you looked at some of the stores, you would probably just assume ‘old fashioned tat’ and not bother going in. I went to one store during the closing down sale period and it still had the old primary colours ident from the mid 80s - they’d rebranded about four times since then!

Debenhams was a go to for ne for Christmas shopping! My dad loved Rocha John Rocha and Jasper Conran so I'd often get him a nice jumper from there. Dh used to buy jeans in there, it was also a good place for shoes for him. If I wanted something like a duvet or towels I'd always look there.
Bhs has been gone so long I don't miss it but I liked the lighting department! Had some great touch lamps from there till ds knocked then over

It was the lighting, and the displays, all so awful. How can something so potentially exciting be so so dull

I miss Debenhams. I liked Maine and Mantaray too @Bagadverts. I do miss being able to try clothes on.

Used to love C&A too

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

I miss BHS but only at Xmas time. Used to love a good mooch around the gift section.

Unfortunately for them, half the gifts were still there in April at 80% off

I only ever went into bhs at Christmas for gifts so only really miss it at this time of year.

[quote XenoBitch]@FestiveMayo
I think I've been to that one, did it have loads of criss cross escalators In the middle? Or was that Plymouth? If it's that one I wonder what they will do with that building

Yes, that was the one! Criss cross elevators.[/quote]
No idea what they'll do with that then. But yes visited there as a child and still remember the escalators.

I used to love looking around! It made a shopping trip. But then I’d go and buy from Amazon or other online sellers. Buying in store was a novelty. I’d perhaps shop differently now however my local store was a 50 minute bus ride away

God no. My local BHS was like a throwback to the 70s, and the nearest Debenhams was just naff as fuck.

We had both BHS and Debenhams in my town. The only thing left is the tumbleweed. The assistants in Debenhams were snooty and the BHS was disorganised and sold lots of granny nighties and slippers, weirdly all the same size.

I miss both. 🤷‍♀️

Yes I miss Debenhams
I but far less now that I'm forced to shop online 😞

Miss both 😪

@Thewiseoneincognito

Absolutely not, BHS full of old lady tat and Debenhams was just depressing. Give me JL, Harrods or Selfridges any day.

Lots of places don’t have those! Debenhams was the only department store in lots of places.

I miss Debenhams a lot, it was the big shop in town that was left and where there was stuff to go look at. BHS used to have a great lighting department.

Yes, a lot. I'm 44 now and since my mid 20s I've had bought most of my clothes in Debenhams and bhs. After bhs closed, I bought almost everything in Debenhams. I'd go to the Oxford St branch a few times a year. I've been trying to find something to buy on their website but haven't yet as I find it too difficult to work out what to buy. What I do instead is mainly shop in m and s. There's enough branches to go to, and if I do order online, I can return via their many branches including simply food stores .

I've haven't bought anything from the debrnf

I liked their breakfasts but never actually bought anything there, ever.

BHS lighting department was amazing, I've still got five lamps and a chandelier from there. I could never understand how they got the lighting so right and everything else so wrong!

BHS was brilliant for reasonably priced jeans which actually fitted me and were the right leg length - I really miss those.