To ask for your most missed shops?

[anitagreen]

This year my heart was broken by Toys "R" Us closing, just wondered what other shops that have closed do you miss?
This year we've had maplins, BHS I believe was this year, Mothercare will all be gone by next year summer too.
As a teen I used to love Bay Trading, and a shop called Tammy Girl.

"I never liked Woolworths at all."

How old are you? I suspect it is the older mumsnetters (like me) that remember what Woolworths was like in its heyday.

I was starting to think I had imagined cosmetics to go as no one seemed to have a clue what I was talking about! Loved loved loved it!
I don’t think I’ll ever not miss Woolies!! I still hope it will come back one day.
Gutted Tesco got rid of their online shopping, I got all Christmas presents from there, normally with saved up clubcard points. Clubcard was the main reason I used Tesco, use Aldi and Lidl loads more now

Julian Graves
That has been reborn as Grape Tree.

Woolworths died due to bad management.

Woolworths
C&A
Woolworths
Woolworths

I swear I read somewhere that WHSmith shops don't actually make any money at all, but the whole business is kept afloat because the same company owns a really lucrative delivery service or something like that.

Woolworths, we had one of their Big W stores nearby & it was my go to shop for household, toys, baby stuff, outdoor things.

Richards Shop & Principals, I used to buy nearly all of my clothes from these shops, prices were reasonable, clothes were good quality & lasted well, I could go in at any time & always find something to suit me.

@nicslackey there is a Wimpey in my city still. Looks blooming awful

I swear I read somewhere that WHSmith shops don't actually make any money at all, but the whole business is kept afloat because the same company owns a really lucrative delivery service or something like that.

That’s it. They distribute all the newspapers and magazines.

That was why Woolies went under and took some other stores with them.
They were the distributors for cds and dvds. They kept being told that the arse was dropping out of it but they wouldn’t listen.

Dont know how the Body Shop continue as Lush seems to have taken their market. The Range, just what is that? A sort of hobbicrafts for dogs? We had a Poundland (World of Quid) close with a half price closing down sale.

TK Maxx have made upmarket clothing more accessible but in turn have diminished the kudos of the brands they stock. I bought a Gap jumper for £7.99 which is good quality and in reality can Gap continue much longer? They stock Parks candles which are £30 online but which they often put in clearance for as little as £6-£8 simply because they have an overstock.

Locally, we have one very upmarket menswear shop who seem to swim against the tide and do very well with an online store. They say their success is based on being open 7 days a week, offering frequent sales as new stock comes in and going the extra mile for the customer ie trying on their own stock to see if the fit will be okay for family you are buying for and supplying staff in lots of shapes and sizes.

Memories of Woolworths for me and the vinyl department, pick and mix and lots of pointless things you did not need.

Woolies without a doubt!! It was just always, well, there! I think it just featured in the childhoods of so many of us born in the 70s and 80s! Browsing the top 100 singles and feeling so grown up choosing music to buy!.. Won't miss Toys R Us - No charm! Can't honestly think of any other that I miss or would miss!

ElsieMc Lush are much pricier than the Bodyshop, and don't have as many special offers as they do. A lot of people avoid going into Lush because of the powerful migraine inducing smells. I know you can buy online, but I for one, like to look, feel and sample the goods before I buy.

I love The Range.

Nat6999 we used to have a Big W. It was excellent.

wimpy still going round here i know of at least 3 still open

For those of us lamenting Allders in Croydon there is a Facebook page (Croydon Disconnected) where one of the posters puts up a load of photos of Croydon back in the day. There are a lot of pictures of Allders. As a child I used to love the arcade, and thought it was magical, especially at Christmas.

Chelsea Girl, Woolworths, C&A

Racing Green
The Pier
real Habitat
Crockets - Glaswegians will remember this as the hardware store. You could get anything in there

There is still a Whittards in Glasgow. I go there once a year to get chocolate coated coffee beans

Wilko have filled the Woollies gap for me. Apart from clothes and records, they sell very similar stuff, and physical music discs etc is a thing if the past anyway.

Woolworths.
I'm glad Toys R Us has gone. It's nice having smaller toy shops and departments opening again.

LoniceraJaponica "How old are you? I suspect it is the older mumsnetters (like me) that remember what Woolworths was like in its heyday."

I'm 64.

@GoldenEvilHoor that's really weird none of ours in London was ever like that, and that's bulls bridge, Croydon purely way, Colliers Wood, and at one stage Kingston none of them ever had this policy, was it up north by any chance?

BIBA
I'm glad Toys R Us has gone
Me too. A huge badly organised shed full of miserable staff and tannoy announcements and signs telling you to stop shoplifting - don't miss that one bit.

Woolworths and all the super convenient department stores eg BHS

I do not shop at Amazon anymore and try to shop local, eg local market, which is fun to go to.

@nicslackey

Wimpy still exists - to my certain knowledge in (randomly) Nottingham and Andover at least.

Blockbuster, it saddens me that my 3YO DS will never know the joy of picking up the latest release on a Friday evening and purchasing popcorn and sweeties to enjoy for a cosy night in :-( . Hardly EVER watch films any more but used to get a DVD probably at least once a fortnight!

HMV

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