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'.

@AnchorWHAT the Derby store was very small and cramped, I went away to university in 1975 and have no recollection of visiting the store before then. It was quite revolutionary in the early 80’s and my friends down south were very envious of my purchases! There wasn’t anything else really around for cheap baby and toddler clothes unless you could afford m and s and Mothercare.

[quote Knittingnanny2]@AnchorWHAT the Derby store was very small and cramped, I went away to university in 1975 and have no recollection of visiting the store before then. It was quite revolutionary in the early 80’s and my friends down south were very envious of my purchases! There wasn’t anything else really around for cheap baby and toddler clothes unless you could afford m and s and Mothercare.[/quote]
Yes it seems strange now that Primark is everywhere yet i was shopping there as a teen. When I used to go back in later years after moving away for polytechnic as-it was then i loved it more because it used to do big sizes!

Anyone remember Jeffrey Rodgers or was that a Brighton thing?? I went shopping in there with my first debit card. Felt so grown up and spent nearly all my (first ever job wages) didn't occur to me that what I was spending was my actual money. Just wanted to sign the debit receipt! 🤦‍♀️

Affleck's palace and the corn exchange in Manchester were my haunts as a student. And later on the prospect centre in Hull. Surprisingly nice food court was there if I remember well.

@AnchorWHAT yes it’s really strange thinking back to what it started out as! Did you shop at the original Derby store? It was on a little side street on the left of the main shopping street, facing towards the guildhall end, then it moved into the eagle centre.
Not sure where it is now as I haven’t been back recently, since my elderly parents died.
Derby had such a great variety of shops when I was a teenager in the 70’s although Nottingham was always considered better.
I loved the big open market and also the covered one in the eagle centre. I used to buy a length of fabric, run up a maxi skirt and wear it out that night
I also have memories of saving up my pocket money , going on the train to Nottingham with my best friend, buying a couple of items, all out of about £10!!!

I used to work in Primark in the late 90s. It was very unfashionable then and basically a jumble sale! It was a tiny little, super messy shop.

Its transformation is incredible. We now have a 'massive 3 story Primark in the High St. It's a lovely shop. Displays are great. They have loads of mannequins and then shelves/racks next to it where you can get the complete 'look'. My DD loved it. She likes getting the bath bombs/sheet masks/lip glosses all pocket money prices so a bit like Body Shop was in that respect. Lots have mentioned White Musk I never liked that scent - I preferred Dewberry or Fuzzy peach. Would love it if they brought those back - my DD would love it! She has got some strawberry Body Shop shower gel she likes. We also have a massive H&M which is also a great shopping experience.

But a fair few empty shops too where Topshop/man, DP/Burton's, Monsoon/Accesorize and Debenhams have gone, oh and Miss Selfridge. So gutted about Topshop as was looking forward to taking my DD in there when she was a teen. The quality had really gone down, though. I have to say I do begrudge paying the higher price when the quality is no better than Primark.

@AnchorWHAT sorry I see you lived in Darlington, not Derby. I should read the posts more carefully!

[quote Knittingnanny2]@AnchorWHAT sorry I see you lived in Darlington, not Derby. I should read the posts more carefully![/quote]
Ha never mind so interesting to know it was not just my dodgy memories 😁

Debenhams got so messy with concessions all over the store. If I wanted a coat I had to walk miles looking at different brands. OH would never hang around whenever he went looking for a particular garment.

Primark on the other hand have cracked it. Garments cleverly placed so you can spot each area because they're so spaced out. Jumpers folded on platforms in order of sizing, trousers together, aisles wide enough for double pushchair. The children clothing sizes clearly marked at a height you can read yards away. It's spacious, well lit and logical.

That's their greatest strength not price but ease.

I loved the body shop in the 90s you make up your own baskets the fun sponges yes so agree .

@Winniewonka I loved Big Boots!
In the early 90s I worked on Princess St and used to go in every day before work and try on a new perfume...
Late 90s stood next to Rio Ferdinand in the Queue in Boots.

@Vaxhubsandwich - do you remember The Seattle Coffee Company on Deansgate? Forerunner of Costa and Starbucks.
Kendal Milne was opposite it and used to be really exclusive. They had a patisserie on the ground floor where my friend and I would treat ourselves to an Opera slice!

@justasking111

Debenhams got so messy with concessions all over the store. If I wanted a coat I had to walk miles looking at different brands. OH would never hang around whenever he went looking for a particular garment.

Primark on the other hand have cracked it. Garments cleverly placed so you can spot each area because they're so spaced out. Jumpers folded on platforms in order of sizing, trousers together, aisles wide enough for double pushchair. The children clothing sizes clearly marked at a height you can read yards away. It's spacious, well lit and logical.

That's their greatest strength not price but ease.

Yep, fully agree. I remember losing the will to live in Debenhams when I was looking for a simple pair of jeans which meant traipsing between different floors etc.

Made worse because the staff hadn't a clue either - just vaguely suggesting I try the xxxx outlet on the top floor and then up there, someone else vaguely suggesting I try yyyy outlet in the basement. It was a complete joke.

@UndertheCedartree

People are happy to shop in malls so why not pedestrianised high st.s

Because Malls usually have well designed free and easy car parking, often just off major roads, i.e. it's easier for car users to get to Malls than it is to suffer congestion and high parking charges for the High Street.

I completely agree. I loved shopping in my local pedestrianised high st when mine were toddlers. It doesn't seem to put people off here. I mean one of the reasons shopping in a mall is so nice is the safety of no traffic. People are happy to shop in malls so why not pedestrianised high st.s?

I agree. The ones in Cardiff make for a great atmosphere on international match days too.

What a lovely thread. To another poster who mentioned Saffron moon in Reading,I miss that shop so much. Spent many a weekend there from 1990. Do you remember Saffron strands near the station? There was a parade of small indoor vintage shops and sold similar ethnic goodies. Shopping isn't the same anymore :(

@pinkhousesarebest

I grew up in Belfast and remember Next opening in the late '80s. I know Next is still around but the quality of the clothing is unrecognisable. I used to walk around that shop like a poacher stalking game. I literally could hardly breathe with excitement. Loved Kookai and Morgan too. Kookai is still going strong here in France but has grown up with us - almost middle aged now. I still remember the things I bought and threw away so carelessly - a lovely poppy dress from Kookai, a white cotton tennis dress from French Connection. It was always easy to find that transformative piece. My dd has never forgiven me.

I still have the Kookai poppy dress! Probably my all time favourite item of clothing. I have never been able to bear to part with it.

I loved a beadshop in Newmarket called the Rocking Rabbit.
Oh and not really a shop but I loved spud-u-like at our local shopping centre - I was amazed to find it still existed a couple of years ago.

I used to work in Primark in the late 90s. It was very unfashionable then and basically a jumble sale! It was a tiny little, super messy shop.

Its transformation is incredible.

They started with their “store of the future” in early 2000s. Moving away from the jumble sale look and becoming a nice shopping experience. The first one I was involved in was Hull back in 2005 and they were starting to do things differently then. The first one to get the full SOTF treatment was the original metro centre store and from there, they rolled it out across all their stores. It was amazing to see how much they spent (and still do) on fitting out their stores. They did start doing some good stuff with their back of house staff areas too, although I’m not sure how many they did in the end.

Because Malls usually have well designed free and easy car parking, often just off major roads, i.e. it's easier for car users to get to Malls than it is to suffer congestion and high parking charges for the High Street.

Yep. Pedestrianised areas are pretty crap for many with disabilities. Especially now they have these “shared spaces” which can be terrifying particularly for deaf or blind people.

@BoredZelda

I used to work in Primark in the late 90s. It was very unfashionable then and basically a jumble sale! It was a tiny little, super messy shop.

Its transformation is incredible.

They started with their “store of the future” in early 2000s. Moving away from the jumble sale look and becoming a nice shopping experience. The first one I was involved in was Hull back in 2005 and they were starting to do things differently then. The first one to get the full SOTF treatment was the original metro centre store and from there, they rolled it out across all their stores. It was amazing to see how much they spent (and still do) on fitting out their stores. They did start doing some good stuff with their back of house staff areas too, although I’m not sure how many they did in the end.

Thanks for that, really interesting. Our local store definitely gives the 'shopping experience'.

@BoredZelda

Because Malls usually have well designed free and easy car parking, often just off major roads, i.e. it's easier for car users to get to Malls than it is to suffer congestion and high parking charges for the High Street.

Yep. Pedestrianised areas are pretty crap for many with disabilities. Especially now they have these “shared spaces” which can be terrifying particularly for deaf or blind people.

Our local pedestrianised High Street is lethal because they've put down very slippy, smooth paving slabs which are dangerous when wet. It's made the High Street very unsafe for people who aren't steady on their feet. Some of the central area is on a slope which makes it even more lethal. To make matters worse, they didn't put in proper drainage, so the slope bit is like a river when there's heavy rain and floods the shops at the bottom!

@Vampirethriller

Does anyone remember Culpeper? I think that was what it was called. Bath stuff and perfume bits. Boots Naturals used to be so lovely in the 90s. Vanilla musk I miss Bay Trading too. I used to have a lovely turquoise bodice from there that would maybe fit around my leg now!

I used to buy a few bits from Culpeper, there was one in Liverpool and we came across a branch in London years ago.

Primark has definitely picked up the cheap toiletries from early Body Shop, it has the makeup, brushes and bath bits (bath fizzer for £1) for shoppers to pick through. Hair stuff (brushes and accessories) as well. H&M has some as well.

A few years ago (probably 15 years) they pedestrianised Oxford street for one Saturday in December .
It was really nice wandering across from shop to shop without traffic. There were street entertainers .

They should really do it every year , just a day would be good .

@notliketheothersnotlikeanyone

90s nostalgia of any sort isn’t just typical nostalgia.

It was the last decade really of things being a certain way before it all changed so there’s more to it than just looking back at childhood/teen years. Those who were young in the 60s/70s/80s could still as adults revisit experiences but that’s near impossible now - due to many things - the internet and online shopping, phones -yes and the final nail in the coffin-covid. Sounds depressing but it is sadly how it is.

I miss so much about the 90s

The thread has moved on, but so much this. I have moments where I have a physical longing for the 90s, and this sums up why so well.

As well as wishing you could take a holiday in your own past