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'.

Not read every post, but does anyone remember a shop called "International"? It was a mix of ladies fashion and house hold stuff. Loved it in there.

I’m still sad that the Pier disappeared. It was a shock because it was a really really good shop and always seemed to be packed.

That aside, a Saturday at the shops with your mates in the 90s always went like this:

First stop Tammy Girl and Snob to try on all the clothes but never to buy anything.

River Island when it was all dark and mysterious inside with 1930s music and velvet clothes. Buy one extremely small thing smug in the knowledge that you would be able to use the decoupage style carrier bag for your PE kit for the next year.

The Body Shop to sniff absolutely everything, try all the perfumes and buy precisely 2 bath pears or the smallest bottle of Dewberry that they sold.

Quick stop off at Whittards to smell all the loose teas. Buy nothing of course.

Athena to laugh at all the Purple Ronnie merch and to swoon at the man and baby poster.

Woolworths for a massive bag of pick & mix.

Boots to smell all the cheap perfumes, try all the make up testers and eventually buy a Rimmel Heather Shimmer lipstick.

McDonalds (or perhaps Burger King - or Wimpy at the earlier end of the 90s) for lunch.

Home on the bus eating Woolies pic & mix until you felt sick.

Bath and Body works. Oh goodness the memories.

And the wonderful stationery shop in the Oracle when it was first built.

I miss it so much!

The Pier! I desperately wanted a blanket from there and could never afford it… until their closing down sale and I still have it now.

Bureau it was called bureau!

I liked the Body Shop and the Pier! I can't say that I ever really loved shopping and hated crowded shops, I prefer buying online, but in nice weather it was sometimes pleasant to have a leisurely browse. Markets were interesting too.

My mother loved shopping, it was her hobby, and I grew up being dragged around shops every Saturday which was a chore (unless I was bought something of course :-) ).

@sansucre

Neal Street East

Oh my goodness, YES! I loved that shop and I’ve never met anyone else who remembers it, I was starting to think that it was a figment of my imagination.

A trip to London was such a treat, I used to save furiously then go to Covent Garden, and Oxford Street for the HEAVEN that was The Big Topshop. The ground floor with all the accessories then down to the clothes. God it was amazing.

Why on Earth don’t retailers realise there has to be an experience to going in a shop? Instead they wang on and on about everything being online (John Lewis, take note) and ignore the fact that shopping can be so damn unpleasant.

Department stores generally; we used to spend all Saturday mooching round them, trying on clothes and make up, going to the various cafes, ice cream bars etc.

So sad to see most of them closed now; even in London loads have gone.

Tammy Girl was cool until you were 13.
Athena was hideously over priced and you can only have so many posters.
The Pier was great, but again was over priced. We bought our kitchen table at about 70% off the original price when it was closing.
Ethel Austin. Naff.
Disney shop. Wall to wall tat. Warner Bros was cooler. But again tat.
Woolies. Seriously did anyone actually buy anything it there or just walk around it (and nick the pick n mix like all my friends did). It was a jumble sale!

The only one on this thread I think I geninuely rated was Kookai.

Neal Street East

Oh yes! I used to start in the lowest basement and work up. I still have a robe and some purses from there. Then I would go to The Tea Shop for some Jasmine Dragon Pearl, the prettiest tea ever.

www.eightieskids.com/remember-this-classic-poster-heres-what-the-man-and-baby-look-like-now/

What happened to Man and Baby man

Flip was THE destination in late 80s/ early 90s Glasgow. My mate worked there and we paraded around like we were the bees knees as we were 'in' with the workers. My dad shook his head in despair as I'd waltz in with dungarees 5 sizes too big ('Did they belong to a greasy, 17 stone car mechanic'?) or ripped 501s with a bandana as a belt ('You can see your pants!'). Ah the memories. I also wore a German army shirt to my final, school exams, to the shock of the headteacher who just stared and shook his head . Those were the days.

Agree, used to love a good mooch round the shops on a Saturday. At least 2 types of music store in our pretty average town . Our Price plus hmv, plus whsmiths sold cds too, plus really good 2nd hand record store.
Independent Bookstores.
And the hippy shops. These still seem to exist in west country towns (have seen them in Bude and Bath), but not round my way.

Athena was fab in the 80s - loved man w baby!!
When I was at uni in the early 90s Saturday afternoon was spent in town looking round the shops/food shopping and then back for tea and getting ready to go out clubbing.
Shops weren’t open on a Sunday then.
So many decent shops gone recently too like Oasis.

Also descending into Top Shop on Oxford Circus was like a rite of passage - I did it w my mum and my dd did it with me.
I was pretty sad when it closed, def end of an era.

@Tumbleweed101

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.

Mine too ! I went to school there and when we had our afternoon off on a wednesday , in sixth form , we’d pootle into the town centre , get a jacket potato from Spudulike , go and eat it by the river , and then bimble round C and A , and the Reject shop across the road , and buy random pencils to go in our strange plastic open weave bags that were all the rage .

Sigh . That was the life .

Oh, I love some 90s nostalgia! How I miss those teenage shopping trips to my local town centre. I'd always visit Miss Selfridge, TopShop, Jane Norman, Ravel, Dolcis and Bay Trading. Outfit choices usually inspired by Sugar or Bliss magazine before gradating onto Cosmo/Vogue/Marie Claire.

A really special trip would be going off the West End and the highlights were always the Oxford Circus TopShop and Shelley's in Covent Garden.

@DropYourSword

We used to drive through to the Metro Centre and that was an experience. The different quarters had different vibes, one was supposed to be like an Italian village or something. I remember Tammy Girl and The Sweater Shop being firm favourites, and getting to eat stottie sandwiches! And the magic of an indoor roller coaster. Shops ARE all so samey now. It used to be so much more fun to go shopping (or was that just because we were in our youth!)

Ahh yes the 1990s metro centre was amazing! Metroland, the Mediterranean village Geordie jeans. I had my first McDonald's there. Thought it was the height of haute cuisine. www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/metrocentre-gateshead-history-metroland-village-15043911.amp

@DropYourSword

www.eightieskids.com/remember-this-classic-poster-heres-what-the-man-and-baby-look-like-now/

What happened to Man and Baby man

Gosh. I've obviously got mixed up with the photo folk meant. The man I met was the one with the baby on his shoulder- obviously Athena cashing I on the success of the first one.

OMG Spudulike!!!

I remember the Body Shop in York in the early 90s as some kind of magical apothecary.

Do any of you who remember 90s Metro Centre remember Baba Yaga? You could buy mood rings and joss sticks and long beaded necklaces?? I spent so much of my Saturday job money in there. My first proper boyfriend worked in Metro Centre HMV 😍

The Pier!!!!! I forgot about the Pier! I loved it in there, half their stock is still in my mums house . I also really loved C&A!

[quote BrightYellowDaffodil]@sansucre

Neal Street East

Oh my goodness, YES! I loved that shop and I’ve never met anyone else who remembers it, I was starting to think that it was a figment of my imagination.

A trip to London was such a treat, I used to save furiously then go to Covent Garden, and Oxford Street for the HEAVEN that was The Big Topshop. The ground floor with all the accessories then down to the clothes. God it was amazing.

Why on Earth don’t retailers realise there has to be an experience to going in a shop? Instead they wang on and on about everything being online (John Lewis, take note) and ignore the fact that shopping can be so damn unpleasant.[/quote]
That was the FIRST shop that came to mind when I saw this thread! I couldn't recall the name! Neal Street East.
I bought my brother and his wife their wedding gift there. I absolutely loved that shop. I haunted Seven Dials back in the 90s. Belgo was a favourite of mine. My first husband had been a Belgo's monk.
It shut in 2020.

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.

@Puffalicious

OMG Spudulike!!!

SpudULike is now owned by celebrity chef James Martin of Saturday Kitchen fame!

spudulikebyjamesmartin.com/