To miss the excitement of 90's shops

[JunoLunar]

Warning: pointless nostalgia
I love shopping but it's such a dull experience these days.
Maybe it was because I was younger and had such little disposable income. I miss shops selling you a 'lifestyle' as i really only get that feeling in IKEA now.
In particular I miss:
Body shop: the little shaped sponges of oranges, lemons, strawberries and the coordinating sprays, bubble baths and those little iridescent balls that went in the bath.
Disney shop: DD was obsessed with Encanto at Christmas and I had to trawl through what they had on so many different online shops. It would be amazing to have a Disney shop to see all the different merchandise and let her choose a few things. I remember the excitement of the lion king coming out and seeing the big displays with all the cuddly toys. I chose a pencil case with different compartments which hid rubbers, pens etc, think it had a calculator too (high tech!)
The Pier: totally up my hippie mums street. Used to have one of those CD players where you could listen to a snippet of rain music, whale music, wolves howling! Did anyone buy those cds? Also selling us the dream of a coloured glass bowl of water with floating tea lights which definitely didn't end up either getting spilt or left to go mouldy on the book shelf. I remember how grown up I felt buying a wooden cat which came in a stars and moon print paper bag.
Waterstones: I still love it now but loved it even more when there was no Amazon or kindles and you had to proper commit to a book to pay £8 for the hard cover.
HMV: I bought the single of 'Smooth' by Santana on tape and the long haired guy behind the till said 'nice choice'. I was sure I could write for Kerrang magazine based on that comment alone.
Also Debenhams in Bristol had in interactive forest with talking trees and a fake drive in cinema with little cars you could sit in and watch Disney films. It was basically ok for your parents to dump you there whilst they shopped. I vaguely remember going there but we never bought anything as it was ' too dear'.

The internet didn't kill the high street, it just accelerated the change.

The rise of car ownership and death of buses. (you could set your day by them. Trying to explain the concept of catching the twenty to or ten past to a kid who's never been on a bus outside school was interesting).

Freezer ownership. Most people had a fridge with a little ice compartment. For choc ices or even crispy pancakes if being posh)

I remember my gran shopping in town pretty much daily for a few bits and then going to the supermarket for the big shop once a month.

More chains moved in. Some chains moved out of town. The rise of charity shops and other second hand places.

Supermarkets could sell everything and undercut the independents. They also got the all day opening.

I miss ambling around places with my gran and going a pub for dinner.

I miss lunatic operated computer game shops. The jeans shops that covered the era from Madchester, rave and then nu metal.

The huge landlord acquisition sprees which resulted in balance sheets so dodgy that they needed to leave shops empty rather than drop rents.

Then along came the internet.

I am noticing a return to independent retailers again though.

It's all cyclical.

This.

Ravel and Dolcis being the favourites. They had their shoes all season and you could save and go back for them 4/6 weeks later. These days stick changes so frequently in most places that if you don't but them when you see then you're done for.

Thinking of all my shoe purchases in the last, few years they're Office or Online from Joules/ Boden/ LandsEnd. Trainers are still good instore- quite a few independents here- but my teens shop differently looking mainly online for all their shoes, including trainers. DMs were purchased online for cheaper after going instore and trying on. It's sad.

@justasking111

Shoe shops used to be wonderful places to visit, I would see a pair of shoes, save up and buy them.

Meant to quote this!

I loved Ravel!
I still remember buying expensive leather boots from there as a student and wore them until they fell apart!

The rise of car ownership and death of buses.

Why did that contribute to the death of the high street? I never went to the shops on a bus - always by car (except when I lived in London and took the tube).

@Fairislefandango I think more cars led to more out of town retail parks vs the high street. I have never owned a car so can’t usually get to those as they are rarely on bus routes for some reason.

@Ifailed

My heart sinks when I hear of yet another pedestrian only road in a town

Mine doesn't. I'd much prefer walking down a safe street, along with the elderly, frail, parents with toddlers & prams, given the alternative of narrow pavements next to a queue of lorries and buses belching out clouds of diesel fumes interspersed with irate car drivers swearing at anyone perceived to be in their way.

If you prefer wide pedestrian spaces with boarded up and derelict shops, then crack on. I’d prefer a better balance and busier shopping areas myself.

@Fairislefandango

The rise of car ownership and death of buses.

Why did that contribute to the death of the high street? I never went to the shops on a bus - always by car (except when I lived in London and took the tube).

Because you went by car, that means everyone did?

We have a small industrial park beyond the railway station. Car repairs, decorators shops, micro brewery, etc. Interestingly we also have a fishmonger, butcher, and two greengrocers. They're wholesalers and retailers, excellent products. We also have a greengrocers that's expanded into a farmer's market. Selling all Welsh products, bakery, dairy, condiments, frozen game, chilled meats.

This area is always busy because of the quality of their products you can park, shop for almost everything food wise. And it's on a bus route.

I find so many shops are too cramped I can even get in there. I really want to stay and browse but I can’t get to look at what I want to because I’m in someone else’s way. Especially with a pushchair I just can’t be bothered to go in even if I’d like to.

Because you went by car, that means everyone did?

No, not at all. The poster was saying that more people using cars (like me) rather than buses was a contributing factor in the demise of shopping in person. I was merely questioning why having a car rather than going by bus would deter you from going shopping (and pointed out that it didn't deter me).

But yes, if we're talking about the demise of the high street rather than all in-person shopping, I can see how car use favoured the out of town shopping centre rather than the high street.

I loved Ravel and Shelley’s for shoes!

Miss the original Principals

I was thinking about this recently & I remember when Next opened in my university city & it was really cool & had a cafe upstairs where we used to go for the best hot chocolates with marshmallows!

Then habitat opened & I loved walking around thar shop & bought lots of really nice delph & glasses there some of which I still have.

Certainly where I live people claim they are put off shopping in the city centre by having to pay for parking whereas they would rather go to one of the retail parks on the edge of the city where parking is free.

I remember in the 90s it was free to park pretty much everywhere. My nearest big town had a shopping centre (later joined by a second shopping centre) plus a still-buzzing high street, both with free, easily accessible parking.

It's now £5.20 for 3-4 hours parking in our local town centre where I live now (although you'd probably struggle to kill 4 hours there even if you stayed for lunch as there are so few decent shops left). Or it would be £4.20 return on the bus I think - if there are two of you plus a child it's cheaper to drive and park but still not exactly cheap. The cost of going just isn't worth it for what's left of the town. If parking was free we'd probably pop in more often for a mooch around.

However parking at the out of town retail parks is free. It's definitely a major factor.

Does anyone remember Snob? I bought a deep purple velour bustier from there that I hid from my mother.
It was a very tarty shop and I loved it

Loved the sock shop too, bits of underwear in there

Body shop was awesome years ago, getting little gift baskets made up at the back of the shop for Xmas presents

Does anyone remember Snob?

Yes, the one near me had Tammy Girl on the ground floor then Snob upstairs. You knew you were grown up when you went up the stairs to shop!

I remember it being very red and black, and I think my mother thought it was a bit ‘fast’.

My Saturday job started in Tammy Girl, and then I was moved to Snob. Oh my days I loved it. The crop tops and high waisted leggings for clubbing were my fav Plus black button up the front play suits coupled with black and white daisy print tights.

The sad thing with the loss of the high street is for our children. I loved going into town with my friends, socialising and picking out different things to try on. More willing to take a risk whereas now it's such a faff to send things back

Oasis Trading. Felt so cool.

@woodhill

Daniels in Windsor and Ealing, great for prams and Laura Ashley

I still like Mothercare

Front signage was still visible in one mall yesterday

@woodhill yes to Daniels in Ealing! My mum loved that shop and we used to admire the lovely big prams. I actually bought my pram and nursery stuff there when I had my first baby in 2001. I remember their restaurant which was very smart with uniformed waitresses, mum would buy me teatime crumpets dripping with butter.

I’m older and I miss the 80s shops. Chelsea Girl and Miss Selfridge. Miss Selfridge had the best clothes but it was more expensive it also had a wonderful make up counter where the colours all had cute names like Little Piggy and came in white packaging with pink Miss Selfridge on them and they sold pyjamas with lipstick kisses on them.

I remember Chelsea Girl disappeared and was replaced by River Island and the stores were decked out like a Huckleberry Finn novel. River Island is hideous these days as is Miss Selfridge. I know I’m old but they were never so tacky, were they?

My friend used to work at The Pier, she loved it, all the staff had beige “woodworking” style aprons as part of their uniform which they used to pair up with 90s bootcut black trousers and funky trainers!

Does anyone remember Concept Man? It was the male version of Chelsea Girl. They merged the two chains and created the River Island brand to replace them.

Etam's, Eastcheap in London, every pay day. Loved that shop