High street stores that have gone

[Chris]

I was recently talking to my wife about how sad it is that a lot of UK stores seem to be closing literally every other week, this was due to popping into a Maplin's store which was virtually empty and had offers for goods for up to 80% off (making expensive items very cheap to buy).

It reminded me of when Dixon's closed and, then from there stores such as 'Woolworths', 'Toys R Us', 'BHS', 'Blockbuster' and 'Comet'.

The crazy thing about most of these is the fact that they sometimes reform under a different name, CO-OP are guilty of this and others just close because the CEO's etc all want to retain the profits which have been made. I find it very sad, as the UK is quickly becoming a one store shop for most major items.

There's little, to no variety with products. Almost every shop sells the same type things, Wilkos is now selling food and drinks as if it was a local off-licence.

Most items you would want from PC World, you can find at Argos and some of the other big stores but only PC World is there with 'specialists' who can advice you (if you can call some that).

What do you think about this? Do you miss any? Join the discussion and share your views, I'd welcome all that read this do have a say.

[ScottyP]

New stores come up all the time, I think those that have gone do because they aren't very well ran. Some like Woolworth's just never adapted to the times and they paid the price for that. Same can be said about Blockbuster, but I do miss renting DVD's from a physical store.

[Magic magpie]

Fantastic read @Chris made me quiet reminiscent  about the shops as a kid I went to. Woolworths was always my number shop I went holidays with my grandad and he always used to say to me get your videos from there or figures from there then if they don’t work you can return them 😂😂 . Fantastic shop cause they started to do cds and everything else great shop always be in my childhood memories. 😂😂

[liampie]

i used to buy my games from gamestation, they gave rewards for your purchases long before game did and unlike them you could return games which did not work properly without any hassle. these days game snap up any rivals and cex is utter crap.

[Countyman]

It's a sign of the times @Chris, a lot of family shops way back have gone because of some of these chains, its just the way things are.

I don't really miss any of them.

[super_ram]

Something had to give with the advent of online shopping.It's a bit sad though when something that has been a permanent fixture in our lives suddenly disappears from the High street.

[TheSkipper]

15 hours ago, super_ram said:

Something had to give with the advent of online shopping.

I don't think it always has much to do with online shopping, it seems something CEO's and marketing staff say to hide the fact they failed.

Toy's R Us never modernised, you could buy much of what they had on offer elsewhere for cheaper from places like "The Entertainer". Online shopping has not helped some who have been slow to get themselves on there, but its the pricing and failing to change to customers demands that ultimately punish UK stores.

[super_ram]

2 minutes ago, TheSkipper said:

I don't think it always has much to do with online shopping, it seems something CEO's and marketing staff say to hide the fact they failed.

Toy's R Us never modernised, you could buy much of what they had on offer elsewhere for cheaper from places like "The Entertainer". Online shopping has not helped some who have been slow to get themselves on there, but its the pricing and failing to change to customers demands that ultimately punish UK stores.

Agreed @TheSkipper ,keeping up with the times and giving customers what they actually want not what they (The stores)want us to buy.

[Chris]

 

[Magic magpie]

13 minutes ago, Chris said:

 

Fantastic video @Chris brought back memories 

[upthepies]

Woolworths is one of those shops that believed they was doing well and by time they wasn't, well they couldn't change things quick enough despite trying.

[CliftonMagpie]

PC World is awful now that Curries merged with them and Comet has packed up trading.

I have never been in a Maplin shop before but I would guess that the locations are not shopping friendly, I don't recall seeing any in retail parks or shopping centres. I find it ruins competition and only helps online traders to get the custom. eBay and Amazon are part of the problem, but the same thing can be said about local stores and how supermarket chains killed them off.  

[James R]

Its the time that we are in I suppose and its defo survival of the fittest. Gone are the days of going to the green grocer for your veg the butcher for your meat as someone came up with the idea of hey lets build all these big mega super markets and do away with lets go to this shop for this and that shop for that when you can buy it all in one.

Totally agree with wilkos its always been a DIY shop to me and always will be I wouldn't dream of going to wilkos to pick up a pint of milk. Its like going a chippy and buying a tin of paint it shouldn't happen. 

The key killer I personally think is internet shopping with all the lazy gits who cant be arsed to get of there feet and go shopping when hey I can order it online and get delivered. ok yeah its quick its easy its less hassle free...……..but is it really quick and hassle free? 

[Fan of Big Tone]

5 hours ago, James R said:

The key killer I personally think is internet shopping with all the lazy gits who cant be arsed to get of there feet and go shopping when hey I can order it online and get delivered. ok yeah its quick its easy its less hassle free...……..but is it really quick and hassle free? 

Ok I admit it, this is all my fault I am one of the lazy gits, if I need a new computer, new phone, television, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, in fact anything electrical then I will go on line and find the cheapest, I can usually find it cheaper than high street stores and I don’t have to spend time and money travelling  around from shop to shop polluting the atmosphere with diesel fumes. The item I want can usually be delivered next day sometimes the same day, so for me it’s a no brainier.

These sort of dry goods stores need to move with the times and offer online as well as a physical shop.

I do draw the line at shopping for groceries online though, we tried it once, the bread was crushed at the bottom of the bag and half the things had been changed for another more expensive item. We enjoy our weekly shop at Lidl, I like to look at groceries, touch the fruit, check the meat for fat and get a lean piece etc.

clothes and shoes are another thing I buy at high street stores, although if they have to rely on me for a thriving business they’d soon go bust, I look at pictures from years ago and I’m still wearing the same clothes as I do now, I’m not what you’d call a slave to fashion. I wear something until it drops apart.

[Piethagoram]

Not so much stores being missed, nostalgic remembering things like Midland Counties Ice Cream....

https://ralphandcovintage.co.uk/product/midland-ice-cream-sign/

and shoe shops that had Pedoscope X-ray machines

http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display?id=92774

For the older PoN members, can't remember if it was West Bridgford Bus Company

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-27344433#

or South Notts, but there were buses from Clifton where the seats went all away across the upper deck of a double decker, with the gangway on the drivers side

http://www.old-bus-photos.co.uk/?p=3456

 

 

[Piethagoram]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_Nottingham#/media/File:British_Trolleybuses_-_Nottingham_-_geograph.org.uk_-_561953.jpg

and when Nottingham had Trolley buses....the rate of acceleration from a standing start lingers in the memory, so quick

[Feral Fox]

An interesting thread with some salient points being made.

The one thing that we also should focus on though is not only the stores not being available for us to shop in, but the massive impact this has had on the actual employees. So many jobs lost, even if you use the last 12 months.

A terrible indictment of our economy when thousands of jobs can be cast aside with no suitable replacement offered. 

Shop floor through to warehouse and logistics, so many people left on the sidelines without work.

Not a shop, but again waking up to the news that 4600 jobs just across the border for us at Rolls Royce will be cut. Sad times.

[Fan of Big Tone]

Yes trolley buses were great, you could just hop on the open back door and hop off before your stop if it got stuck in traffic. At the terminus on Trent Embankment they used to swap the poles over.

Also the number 88 single decker bus that went from Sneinton down Meadow Lane to Trent Bridge.

[liampie]

12 hours ago, Fan of Big Tone said:

Yes trolley buses were great

trolley buses? sounds kinda weird. 

are they the ones where you got on at the back of the bus whilst it was moving? if not, i would not know what one was.

[Fan of Big Tone]

51 minutes ago, liampie said:

trolley buses? sounds kinda weird. 

are they the ones where you got on at the back of the bus whilst it was moving? if not, i would not know what one was.

@liampie Trolley buses were run from electric overhead wires and had poles which attached to the wires and yes you could hop on and off at the back.

[liampie]

oh those, i thought they had a different name.

[TM1993]

On 6/14/2018 at 00:23, James R said:

The key killer I personally think is internet shopping with all the lazy gits who cant be arsed to get of there feet and go shopping when hey I can order it online and get delivered. ok yeah its quick its easy its less hassle free...……..but is it really quick and hassle free? 

I agree, but its voiced too strongly.

You find some good bargains in both stores and online, you have to do both.