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Shops and Cafes no longer here.

(114 Posts)
NanKate Mon 01-Jun-26 08:04:41

In my late teens I used to have coffee in the Kardoma (don’t know how to spell it)

Bought clothes when I could afford it from Neaterwear.

What do you remember ?

Grantanow Mon 01-Jun-26 10:41:31

Importers with coffee roasting in the window on Guildford High Street was great. I recall Fields in Hull as a boy.

Aldom Mon 01-Jun-26 10:53:19

From my days of living in Chester I remember Brown's of Chester .
It was a beautiful department store.
There were plush armchairs for the benefit of customers!
It eventually became a very shabby Rachams. No idea if it's still there as many branches of Rachams have closed.
Also in Chester, Quaintways a large grocery shop.
I used to take my daughter to Chelsea Girl in Chester when she was a teenager. She's almost 58 now.

MT62 Mon 01-Jun-26 11:15:20

Tammy girl. Saw one in Tenerife.
I never shopped there but remember it well.

MissChateline Mon 01-Jun-26 11:20:01

I met my first husband at On the Seventh Day in Manchester. We used to go every Saturday in the mid 70’s. If they burned the brown rice you got it for free!

Shel1951 Mon 01-Jun-26 11:22:37

I remember Leon's corner house Marble Arch, my mum used to take us there many moons ago.we lived in Camden town

Shel1951 Mon 01-Jun-26 11:23:14

Lyonssmile not leons

Shel1951 Mon 01-Jun-26 11:25:30

There used to be John Colliers for men.
When I was a child I used to sing along with the tune..John Collier John Collier the windows to wash, never understood why people would want to wash shop windows

LadyGaGa Mon 01-Jun-26 11:57:10

I used to buy my children’s uniforms and clothes from Littlewoods. I can remember my mum buying me clothes from C and A - they always seemed to be made of crimpoline, so don’t miss that 😂 I used to like Debenhams. It was always the start of Christmas to take my children to see the lovely Christmas displays. And every area seemed to have a local hardware shop where you could buy just about anything. Ours was called Lennox. If you needed a screw, a mop, an obscure bit for the washer - ‘I’ll go to Lennox’s’

Grandmaofone Mon 01-Jun-26 12:43:13

Shel1951

There used to be John Colliers for men.
When I was a child I used to sing along with the tune..John Collier John Collier the windows to wash, never understood why people would want to wash shop windows

the window to WATCH !!

Bridey Mon 01-Jun-26 12:48:56

Wimpy Bar
British Home Stores
C/A

eddiecat78 Mon 01-Jun-26 12:51:19

Favourite shop ever was Biba - only visited once on a rare trip to London but have never forgotten it

Llamedos13 Mon 01-Jun-26 12:59:38

I’ve got that John Collier tune stuck in my head now.

nanna8 Mon 01-Jun-26 13:09:27

Anyone remember Chiesmans in Lewisham ? I used to go there with my Mum and she would order a drip filter coffee in their cafe. It was a big department store.

Knitter43 Mon 01-Jun-26 13:17:24

We used to.love going to the Danish Food Centre in Manchester and have never been anywhere like it before or since. The choice of seafood was amazing and there was a cake I liked that involved a layer of almond paste and chocolate icing.
Others have mentioned the Kardomah in the 1960s - it was worth going in just for the coffee smell.
In my.home town of Preston I remember Swedish Modern Furniture Shop ( ahead of its time), Morrows Art Shop in Friargate,.the original Bruccianis and Macfisheries. I took my cookery O level in the 1960s and was making a recipe that involved a green pepper and Macfisheries was the only.place I could get one. How times have changed!

Gin Mon 01-Jun-26 13:20:54

Being a Londoner, I remember all the big departmental stores, The Army and Navy in Victoria, Gamages, DH Evan’s, Whitleys, the South Kensington ones whose names I can’t remember and the one where I had a holiday/Saturday job, Bourne and Hollingsworth.

The Joe Lyon’s cafes and enormous Corner Houses with nippy service. Express Dairies, The Kardoma in Kings Road Chelsea where we went to gaze in the windows of Mary Quant and similar shops that we could not afford

Rosie51 Mon 01-Jun-26 13:24:47

nanna8

Anyone remember Chiesmans in Lewisham ? I used to go there with my Mum and she would order a drip filter coffee in their cafe. It was a big department store.

Yes, sadly long gone. It became an Army and Navy store before eventually closing.

sodapop Mon 01-Jun-26 13:27:49

Grantanow

Importers with coffee roasting in the window on Guildford High Street was great. I recall Fields in Hull as a boy.

I remember Fields as well Grantanow also Kardomah in Whitefriargate. The coffee aromas were wonderful. Have to mention Hammonds of Hull as well with its Picadish.

Grandmaofone Mon 01-Jun-26 13:43:34

Llamedos13

I’ve got that John Collier tune stuck in my head now.

I looked it up, there are vids on youtube ha ha, these used
to play at the cinema before the main film, with the Asteroid
theme of Pearl and Dean

Ilovecheese Mon 01-Jun-26 13:54:54

SpinDriftCoastal

Manchester? Does anyone remember The Seventh Day on Oxford Road, possibly one of the first vegetarian restaurants. Or, The Plaza where they served vindaloo after a hard night on the town?

It was " on the eigth day" I remember it well, it sold food and clothes at first, then just food. Near Jonny Roadhouse. I don't remember the Plaza though.

Bazza Mon 01-Jun-26 14:19:48

I remember the coffee importers in Guildford Grantanow. I
Used to stand outside watching the beans roasting in a big drum and inhale the fabulous smell. I’ve always found the taste a bit of a disappointment though!

Cranks was a wonderful vegetarian place in Soho, way ahead of its time. I could never understand why it didn’t survive because the food was delicious and it always had massive queues.

I loved the Golden Egg too, and Lyon’s Corner House was a treat, particularly the salad bar where you payed half a crown I think, and you could eat as much as you wanted.

Ally27 Mon 01-Jun-26 14:26:04

Gosh yes, Liverpools amazing shops. Owen Owens, George Henry Lees, my mums favourite, Hendersons, Blacklers, Littlewoods C&As , BHS,all the ladies shops on Bold St. I could go on. What treat to go for the day. Now..... I couldn't be bothered it's mostly tat.

NanKate Mon 01-Jun-26 15:29:16

I think our shops/restaurants/cafes nowadays are very dull in comparison to when we were young.

When DH and I were first ‘courting’ as they used to call it, we went to a French restaurant which was decked out like a cave 😳 We loved it but now one would call it totally Naff!

Tenko Mon 01-Jun-26 15:44:52

Croydon was my nearest big town and I remember Allders especially the arcade and two other department stores Grants and I think the other was Kennards .
I used to buy my dc uniform from ladybird in Woolworths .

NotSpaghetti Mon 01-Jun-26 17:00:52

SpinDriftCoastal

Manchester? Does anyone remember The Seventh Day on Oxford Road, possibly one of the first vegetarian restaurants. Or, The Plaza where they served vindaloo after a hard night on the town?

Last August
www.thenews.coop/iconic-manchester-worker-co-op-eighth-day-celebrates-55-years/

NotSpaghetti Mon 01-Jun-26 17:05:25

eddiecat78

Favourite shop ever was Biba - only visited once on a rare trip to London but have never forgotten it

There was one in Manchester - St Anne's Square I think.