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Original poster

To miss the excitement of 90's shops

551 replies

JunoLunar · 19/02/2022 11:15

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'.

OP posts:
dentydown · 19/02/2022 13:01

I miss the pier. Ours used to smell of insense. There was little blind corners that had random wooden things in it. It felt like you discovered something!

Silverswirl · 19/02/2022 13:02

I worked in the pier. Really interesting stuff used to come in and I loved seeing who bought it. Often got heavily discounted slightly damaged things on offer to staff.
The smell when you walked in and the smell of one of the candles in particular was Divine! Used to love putting them on the shelves

Fairislefandango · 19/02/2022 13:02

I think it's not just the convenience of online shopping that's killed high street shopping, it's that the almost infinite range of choice it provides has numbed us to any excitement about what might be available.

I never really enjoyed clothes shopping tbh, but I do dimly remember loving browsing around Body Shop, HMV, Athena etc. I still love IKEA, but don't live near one unfortunately!

LadySilence · 19/02/2022 13:03

And totally agree about the simpler times- no internet or smart phones, having to call your friend's landline to arrange where to meet. I really feel for kids these days- I'm not so sure having access to everything at the touch of a button is such a positive. It takes the excitement away- why go to hmv and buy a single when you can just hear it on YouTube?

TheVanguardSix · 19/02/2022 13:05

@Ontheblink

I know it was Promod!
Oh yes! Promod! I used to model for them. I was on their shop windows in the 90s! Grin I know... I am totally boasting, but it was such a great time to be young and to be a model in London and Paris. It was a unique time.
strelitzialady · 19/02/2022 13:06

I took the kids to Hamleys in December. We were in London anyway and decided last minute to take them there as a treat as they were getting a bit fed up with sightseeing!

I thought it would be amazing in a tacky/wonderland sort of way but it was just horrible - felt down at heel, like they had basically given up. I've got no idea if it was once exciting to visit?

Fritilleries · 19/02/2022 13:07

I remember in the early noughties that I could spend £200 that I'd saved from my Saturday job and go on an absolute shopping spree. I miss the magic of creating a new wardrobe of clothes and ambling in and out of different shops. I miss actually enjoying the experience. It's not the same.

starfishmummy · 19/02/2022 13:07

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

I remember sending dh to buy me a relaxation tape when pregnant me couldn't sleep. I said no pan pipes and was thinking he'd get whale song or similar. He got rainforest which having pregnancy bladder didnt seem a great choice. But it worked brilliantly!!

Tumbleweed101 · 19/02/2022 13:09

I remember many of these shops. My biggest shopping town was Kingston as I was growing up and remember C&A, the pier, spoils shop, past times, evolution and athena. Remember borders more from when I moved near Cambridge. I used to day dream how I would furnish my house when I was 16ish from some of those shops. Miss the little hippy shops too with lovely crystals, necklaces and rings. There are no nice shops in the High Street now, at least not locally to where I am not. Not even an IKEA close by. They are all coffee shops, shops such as B&M, pound land etc and so few shoe shops and nice clothes shops. Shopping is definitely different now.

Livpool · 19/02/2022 13:09

Ah loved that shop @FionnulaTheCooler - wasted hours and £££ in there

Eggmcmuffin · 19/02/2022 13:10

Omg....the pier! Loved that place. Same as a PP, by the time I could afford a house it had closed. Gutted.

LubaLuca · 19/02/2022 13:11

Benetton as well Sad

GrannyWeatherwaxesHatpin · 19/02/2022 13:13

I bloody loved The Pier and was sad to see them go bust. I’ve still got things I bought from there and I love them. They did a peach and green tea candle which was lovely. They didn’t survive the 2008 crash, if I remember correctly they were too debt-laden and couldn’t withstand the economic contraction. Of all the other shops that went down - Woolworths, Dolcis etc - I could understand why because their model or product was out of date, but Pier’s demise was just bad management.

I have such fond memories of “proper” Body Shop too, I was given a lip balm from there when I was quite young and it seemed so sophisticated! The shop seemed so different to everything else in the 80s. Later I remember spending my pocket money on grapefruit shampoo (the smell of grapefruit still takes me back…), fuzzy peach, fruit scented soaps and those bath pearls that always ended up with the casing stuck to the bottom of the bath (or you).

Sadly, they went the way of so many good chains - bought up by private equity who then want better returns on their investments so reduce the quality, range, innovation, service etc. It becomes a negative spiral until eventually the shop is either a shadow of its former self (Accessorize, I’m looking at you - you used to stock lovely Indian style stuff and now it’s the same bland crap you get everywhere) or they go bust.

GrannyWeatherwaxesHatpin · 19/02/2022 13:13

And another one: The Sweater Shop!

petalblossom · 19/02/2022 13:14

I used to love bay trading co, very cheap and cheerful!

I used to visit Etam every week and spend £1 of my pocket money on a Spectacular nail varnish

The Sweater Shop

Lunn Poly Holiday Shop. What's happened to all the good travel agents?

There was a little shop in our shopping centre that sold items with names on. I remember getting my dark green velvet headband with my name scrawled on in different coloured letters!

Puffalicious · 19/02/2022 13:14

Yes!!!! Topless man holding a baby!

I once met him with a friend who knew him: very beautiful and very gay. I was devastated for my 13 year old self. He was also very lovely, which made up for it.

CaMePlaitPas · 19/02/2022 13:14

Nothing in my life has quite compared to the thrill of a Woolworths pick n mix

Bootothegoose · 19/02/2022 13:14

Bloody hell yes!

I lost three stone very suddenly at 19 and will never be able to emulate the feeling of walking into topshop and knowing ANYTHING could be mine.

I really miss high street shopping.

padsi1975 · 19/02/2022 13:16

Top Shop on Oxford Street. I used to get a coffee and be there for opening on a Saturday morning. It would be quiet for the first hour and it was heavenly to walk around and try things on. There was always something lovely to buy. Those Saturday mornings are such a lovely memory.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 19/02/2022 13:17

Nothing in my life has quite compared to the thrill of a Woolworths pick n mix

GrinGrinGrin

sansucre · 19/02/2022 13:17

I miss late 80s Covent Garden - the General Store, Flip, Neal Street East and Argon to name just a few stores, all of which had disappeared by the mid-late 90s (although NSE might have clung on until toe early 2000s. And speaking of the 2000s, used to love Koh Samui too but the service was so dreadful that I'm not surprised they shut up shop for good).

It's interesting the now shopping is considered to be a leisure activity, so many shops are missing the mark completely. Everything is so identikit, it's depressing.

Lifeisaminestrone · 19/02/2022 13:17

John Lewis, a named store near me that’s now closed, was so fun. Little hankies, gloves melamine plates, fun jewellery.

Quite a lot of little low cost items that I would look at while my Mum bought white goods, clothes etc! Then could have a cream cake or lime milkshake. All gone now.

padsi1975 · 19/02/2022 13:19

@Hasselhoffsheadband

Descending the escalators at the entrance of Oxford Circus Topshop into actual heaven.

No feeling like it Grin

I have always loved the experience of shopping and walking around laden with bags of goodies, but I went to a big shopping centre a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't be arsed with any of it, my back started aching after a while and the bags were just too heavy...

This!!!!! So much love for that Top Shop.
Lifeisaminestrone · 19/02/2022 13:19

Oh and Harrods toy department- I loved it so much - just a massive room of teddies and Hello Kitty items.

It’s awful now!

Puffalicious · 19/02/2022 13:19

@LubaLuca

Benetton as well Sad
My sister has just returned from London with a gorgeous Benetton sweatshirt for DCs birthday (and fabulous stuff from the M&M shop that 10yolds are wowed byGrin).

We had Benetton until a few years back. I always liked their stuff. Fond memories of pink jeans with a matching waist coat for my first holiday in Faliraki! I had the pale blue set too. I was clearly a bang on it fashionistaGrin. I rem they had in between sizes, so I bought a size 9. God I wish I was that size now.