Also do you remember Amber fashions & Richards shops?
@RubyMc-v4i8 ай бұрын
@@gill8779 👍
@ladydreadqs6399 ай бұрын
Wow! A bustling high street with open shops and loads of choice and colour , haven't seen of those in twenty years, mine resembles a cemetery with plenty of grey slabs once full of life.
@richardh80829 ай бұрын
John Collier. John Collier. The window to watch! :)
@bobikdylan9 ай бұрын
That jingle went straight through my head the second I saw the picture.
@Julie-sm7sp9 ай бұрын
@bobikdylan mine too 😁
@misst.e.a.1879 ай бұрын
Dum dumudum; dum dumudum
@huwlewis90599 ай бұрын
Was at a tv show recording about 8 years ago. The warm-up man did a jingles quiz, getting progressively harder (I.e. older, it was a generally young audience apart from a few). He sang the first part of a jingle, whoever knew it sang the second part. Came to ‘John Collier, John Collier’ and I was the only one out of about 400 to shout ‘the window to watch’.
@AndriyValdensius-wi8gw9 ай бұрын
Our school playground version was "John Collier, John Collier, the window to smash." Yes. I went to a very good school. It was approved. (The old jokes are the......corniest)
@arthurstack62786 ай бұрын
Remember Timothy Whites. Often used to pop in there at the weekend. Very similar store to Boots
@pronabol9 ай бұрын
Let's take a nostalgic journey to the past and stroll along the high streets of Britain to revisit our culture that is sadly no longer with us.
@spanishpeaches29309 ай бұрын
The past is another country : (
@fluffyfour9 ай бұрын
@@spanishpeaches2930 Except you can't get there by plane! :)
@Makeyourselfbig9 ай бұрын
Defunked Supermarkets and model shops do not a culture make. Businesses begin and end. They call it capitalism.
@MayYourGodGoWithYou9 ай бұрын
All too Americanised now, even down to the shops being open every day of the week (whatever happened to half day opening on a Saturday, half day opening one day during the week - usually when the local town market was being held ), all gone in the interests of 7 day a week shopping just like in the ''good'' old US of A. Sorry but once you've lost your European identity - and it's happening to most of Europe at this state - for the US open all hours identity you'll never get it back, all you have is a mini USA with different shops
@spanishpeaches29309 ай бұрын
@@MayYourGodGoWithYou The UK is all but a breathing corpse now. The quality of the country has rapidly diminished over the past 30 years. Yes, you can still see the great countryside, the great houses, the great coastline etc...but there is a serious , cancerous malaise in the societal structure and it's getting worse. We peaked around 1996 and we are on the road , to either a civil war or or a zombie nation with an oppressive govt. Life is no longer fun for the majority.
@Ginger_Dalek9 ай бұрын
Ah! The memories of coming home from school and seeing Mum had a new Littewoods catalogue... 😉😂
@fus149hammer59 ай бұрын
Ah so it wasn't just me then?😂😂😂👍
@jaycfc69559 ай бұрын
I wonder what section you looked at first 😂
@johnross29249 ай бұрын
We all loved the bra page's ☺️
@fus149hammer59 ай бұрын
@@johnross2924 Bra and knickers....
@tintobrass5329 ай бұрын
Blimey i remember catalogues! Remember when your mam got a new catalogue, and you turned straight to the ladies underwear section? Or maybe it was just me….
@SafetyProMalta9 ай бұрын
"Mum, the Rumbelows man is here" 24 inch colour tv on tick. Weighed half a ton.
@lucius45569 ай бұрын
We had rediffision with a small box thing in the window to turn it over lol..until we got a colour set😂
@carolebarker21959 ай бұрын
TV man with a bad back, lol.
@Mike-James9 ай бұрын
@@lucius4556 My dad used to work for redi, repairing tv's.
@herrflick12449 ай бұрын
We got a colour TV our own as we had rented from relayvision. Got it on princess anne and Mark Phillips wedding day November 72. I had the day off school so I watched the wedding. Dad came in later after work, feeling the telly to see how long I had it on for, turned it off for a while before he came home so the misery couldn't get nasty with me.
@lucius45569 ай бұрын
@@herrflick1244 My dad used to do that with the electric wall heater we had in the bathroom after we had a bath..we were told not to put it on but would stand on the toilet and pull the string really slowly so that it didn't click lol. Edit - the wall heater was up above the toilet.
@Daisy-tl2lh9 ай бұрын
Nothing like spending a winters evening with the Littlewoods catalogue planning our summer holiday and summer wardrobe ...
@walterkronkitesleftshoe66849 ай бұрын
When there was variety and competition on the high street. But corporate globalism put an end to all that. "Mergers & Acquisitions" legislation purported to maintain a competitive economy while quietly allowing the multinationals to buy up the competition and destroy market economy. We LOVED the variety of the independent shops and small chains, with just one or two of the mega companies. Now city centres across the country are a carbom copy of each other with most of the company brands owned by a handful of multinationals. Thanks for the trip again Stu, and another happy trip to the past. All the best.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
My pleasure! Thanks as always.
@ChrisJohnson-te3eg9 ай бұрын
Im originally from Birmingham and have fond memories of Beatties models. I used to go on the no 50 bus into town with mum and she would take me in there and I would look at all the model trains. Such a shame all these places are long gone. If i could go back to the 80s i would. Much better times.
@philwoodall90239 ай бұрын
126 bus for me or 120 if I had time on my hands! Both doing Dudley to Birmingham, the 120 was nearer home but much longer as it took in Oldbury and bits of Smethwick.
@johnnyboy-f6v9 ай бұрын
I never thought the shops I grew up with would disappear! Presto, Woolworths, John Menzies, Littlewoods, Fine Fare, BHS, C&A, RS McColl, Frasers, Debenhams, Arnotts. Even Jenners on Princes St has gone! And the culprit? The internet. And it's only going to get worse! Former High Streets are becomming deserts or a bland mix of hair salons, charity shops and bookies. Thanks Stu for the nostalgia trip.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
My pleasure!
@peterclarke36199 ай бұрын
Dont forget the vape shops 😢
@luckysembry55089 ай бұрын
And takeaways!
@philtowle46839 ай бұрын
And charity shops
@AndriyValdensius-wi8gw9 ай бұрын
@johnhamilton Woolworths and C&A are / were both American. C&A still exists in Germany. I saw a recent YT video about a German city ( I forget which) and there was an open C&A. They've obviously left the UK, but it doesn't mean they no longer exist.
@k.edwards31389 ай бұрын
Only just found your channel, got to say its wonderful. Looking back to old shops and retro foods is very nostalgic and I look back with fondness. I was born in 70 so remember loads of what you show. I can remember nicking a jelly from finefare, my dad caught me and all he said was the next thing I pinch he would make me eat it regardless of what it was. When your parents talked to you in that special voice you knew you'd better behave, pity kids today don't have the same respect that my generation had.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Glad you are enjoying the memories on the channel! Many thanks for watching.
@dawnyWestScotland9 ай бұрын
1/2p wow 😆 the memories. We want Woolworths to make a come back! ☀️
@paulanderson77969 ай бұрын
That was destroyed in 2008 by the "recession". Recessions are created deliberately. International financiers are good at this.
@julianaylor43519 ай бұрын
There's always rumours that someone wants to relive it. It wasn't just the economy that trashed it, like the management of Wilko, the management messed it up.
@johnnyg17009 ай бұрын
You can still find Woolworth stores in Australia
@paulanderson77969 ай бұрын
@@johnnyg1700 That's a completely different company with no links whatsoever to F. W. Woolworth of European origin.
@dawnyWestScotland9 ай бұрын
@@johnnyg1700 I think they had a Woolworths in Germany too.
@Daracdor9 ай бұрын
Bentford Nylons omg ! The name of night mares , as kid my skin would catch on the pulls in the sheets Ma and Pa bought nylon sheets and the blankets . The static snaps popped me me everywhere over my body ... my bum the most as I remember !
@billiondollarman38479 ай бұрын
I remember Zodiac Toys store. It was a world of wonder and joy when I was a kid in 70s. 😊
@loftlegacy9 ай бұрын
Yes, we had a Zodiac in Blackburn. For a fairly modest sized shop, they had a massive selection.
@julianaylor43519 ай бұрын
I have a set of books on famous explorers that I collected week by week from Zodiac Toys.
@cazharris55819 ай бұрын
Zodiac toys had everything a kid wanted in the 70s, I got all my Sindy stuff from there…
@cdub50339 ай бұрын
@@loftlegacy I was in Zodiac, Blackburn every Saturday looking at all the stuff I couldn’t afford. I missed that little shop on the corner on the way to men’s conveniences in the shopping precinct.
@loftlegacy9 ай бұрын
@@cdub5033 for models later in life it had to be Mercers on Northgate.
@donnahollins50719 ай бұрын
Purple bri nylon sheets and a floral nylon nightie. Lit up like Blackpool illuminations !
@hilaryjuliecoxon54348 ай бұрын
😅😅😅
@landscapedetective40649 ай бұрын
Some day in 1990 I remember watching two old biddies having a scrap in Presto's (Peckham, South London). I'm not sure what they were fighting about, but they were grabbing items from each other's baskets and throwing them anywhere. I ducked to avoid being hit by a can of beans, then as I lifted my head again I was hit in the face by a flying pack of bacon. Ah, the good ole days :) Yeah, Peckham could be a bit rough.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Wow, who knew bacon could be so lethal?
@zombiebiker55819 ай бұрын
No you know where the saying,,,,,,,,slapped ham
@matthewhopkins6669 ай бұрын
@@stuviewtvOr that pigs really could fly.
@bobikdylan9 ай бұрын
The summer of 76 was hot enough. Then mum bought nylon sheets. Thanks mum.
@mrlodwick9 ай бұрын
haaaaaa did you rub them hard and see the sparks
@rosegolding9259 ай бұрын
😂🫶❤
@Pythonaria9 ай бұрын
Bri-nylon sheets and a bri-nylon nightie was fun creating my own mini lightning storm. That said, they were horribly uncomfortable in warm weather.
@Pomdownuder9 ай бұрын
Nylon sheets and nylon carpets - what's not to love⚡
@sameoldrecord9 ай бұрын
We had nylon sheets aaaand nylon nighties
@Joanna74289 ай бұрын
Tammy Girl, Our Price....Etams! I miss those...i remember my nan talking about Prestos!
@stevedavis68796 ай бұрын
I think Prestos were still going strong in the 80s , as I was born in 74 and vaguely remember them .
@lee41712 ай бұрын
Beatties in Piccadilly gardens, Manchester. Scalextric and Tamiya model heaven for me!
@Zodiac1981-i4f9 ай бұрын
I love this channel because it gives me major feelings of nostalgia in a good way not a sad way if that makes sense 😊
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
That's great to hear. Thanks!
@pigknickers29755 ай бұрын
Oh this is great. Friday evening routine when I was 9 or 10 was helping my mum out round Prestos. I saw a teacher from school in there once and realised these people were real people that went shopping. Ha. This country was so wonderful, it's half gone now. Brentford Nylons was on the telly all the time. I still think about it driving through . . . Brentford :)
@stuartlauderdale83829 ай бұрын
As a long time resident of Washington Tyne and Wear Sainsbury's is still called Savacentre by many locals.
@xXTheSammichXx9 ай бұрын
Beatties in Southgate was the place where I used buy all my Citadel miniatures and Games Workshop stuff. Good times.
@nicolasykes66379 ай бұрын
We used to shop at international stores, macfisheries, Bejam and sometimes Victor values when I was growing up. I miss etam and I loved Woolworths at Christmas. The good old days of the high streets.
@julianaylor43519 ай бұрын
My local Macfisheries had a trout tank in the window. The firm also had a supermarket chain, we had one of those too, they were called Key Markets, both long gone, but the company is now in seafood distribution and they sell fish and other seafood to Iceland supermarkets and I think others too. Bejam were taken over by Iceland.
@johnp81319 ай бұрын
I remember buying trousers from Foster Brothers, highly fashionable in 1976 but felt like they were made of sand paper!
@ianr9 ай бұрын
Great video again! Yes....I still have nightmares about my mother buying Purple Nylon sheets from Brentfords. Used to hate going to bed! 😄
@nellspencer64179 ай бұрын
Know what you mean, the sparks comming off my nylon nightie hitting nylon sheets.
@trevorbrown66549 ай бұрын
I was watching and episode of Space 1999 very recently and noticed the bedding and pyjamas in that was nylon. I guess at the time people thought it was space age rather than a fire risk
@luckysembry55089 ай бұрын
I remember shoe shop Freeman, Hardy and Willis.
@thornbird67684 ай бұрын
Curtis as well
@Joncl9 ай бұрын
Brushed nylon was just itchy, and I remember sweating in my nylon sheets 😢
@hilaryjuliecoxon54348 ай бұрын
Ruddy awful,nyon sheets.😔
@steevobarker5819 ай бұрын
I used to really like Radio Rentals. Could always have the latest TV and video at a monthly payment over a few years then, send it back and get the new models. Excellent.
@TheCatBilbo7 ай бұрын
7:33 Oh my God - so THAT'S where River Island came from! I never knew that. Just as well, 'Concept Man' wouldn't have floated my boat 😊
@alexday58929 ай бұрын
That 60s style John Collier advert was like something you’d see at a local cinema where the address of the shop always features at the end of the ad.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
You are spot on with that! That particular ad was indeed shown in cinemas.
@carolebarker21959 ай бұрын
Pearl & Dean probably!
@TCHorwood-xq7mw6 ай бұрын
"Just 200 yards from this cinema."
@Julie-sm7sp9 ай бұрын
We had nearly all those where I lived, except SavaCentre and Beatties, we did have something similar to Beatties called Timothy Whites, it had an awesome toy department, Radio Rentals brought back memories going in every week with mum to pay for the television 😁 Chelsea Girl and Etams they were the go to shops for us girls back then, it's a shame how we've lost all those great shops ☹️ thanks for the video stu 🙂
@snowysnowyriver9 ай бұрын
I remember Timothy Whites! There always seemed to be a fierce battle between TWs and Boots. I think Boots bought them out eventually.
@Julie-sm7sp9 ай бұрын
Ah I didn't know that, what a shame, I loved that shop it was always a special treat for me and my brother to go in there when it was our birthdays, we'd spent ages round the toy department, I'm sure that's why mum didn't take us in that often 😂😂
@fus149hammer59 ай бұрын
Captain Mainwaring always claimed his platoon was responsible for the stretch of Walmington On Sea High Street between Stead And Simpsons to Timothy Whites.😂
@Julie-sm7sp9 ай бұрын
@fus149hammer5 After a quick Google search I found the episode on you tube 😁 'Something Nasty In The Vault S3' so funny 🤣🤣 I didn't remember that episode, brilliant comedy, thanks for the reminder 😊
@frankhovis9 ай бұрын
My wife used to have "C & A" on her underwear. I assumed it was for the same reason wellingtons boots have "L & R" wrote on them.
@RHR-221b9 ай бұрын
Thank you, Stu. Nearing my 73rd years on this strange Astral Plane, I lucidly remember most of the focuses within this upload. The beginning of a timeline, now hitting the present buffers of decency et al. and what used to be our form of reality. AKA: Modern Rip-Off. I am now about to re-visit these times when I/we all worked HARD and food, etc., outlets realised some solid sort of our trust, in return for respect. Stay free. Rab 👋 🕊
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Many thanks Rab.
@gjwestonable9 ай бұрын
Such a shame for Beatties, their toy department was fantastic in Wolverhampton. I remember the entrance was through the breakables department 😂. Another great long gone toy store was Zodiac also in Wolverhampton found a Zodiac bag in a trunk recently. Great video thanks.
@paulanderson77969 ай бұрын
Zodiac had a small outlet in Uxbridge during the 70s and 80s.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks! I remember Beatties and Zodiac in Wolverhampton very well.
@philipdouglas59119 ай бұрын
Remember them both. Beatties had an excellent cafe that used to be the go to place as a child for a cob and a milk shake. Their toy department was down in the basement close to the small food hall that they had.
@stephenguppy78829 ай бұрын
Thanks for some more wonderful memories. The high street today is all discount stores, charity shops and coffee houses. I loved the Brentford Nylons ad. I wondered if they had the idea of using nylon after seeing Fluff's hair?😂😂Alright? Right? Not 'arf!☺👍
@herberthartwig85449 ай бұрын
Remember most Stu, thanx for the Memories 👍
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
My pleasure!
@rw87339 ай бұрын
Happier, better days. Thanks, Stu. Brilliant 😊
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Happy days indeed! Many thanks as always.
@kevy19679 ай бұрын
Back in the late 70s my parents bought a music centre from Rumbelows. When we got it home they had left a cassette in it, it was one they must have played in store. It had some hits of the time and every so often the music was interrupted by Terry-Thomas saying “golly good show Rumbelows” in his classic gap-toothed style. We kept that cassette for many years.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
What a marvellous little treasure.
@susanduke98353 ай бұрын
I was looking at the wall paper in the background - had that in my bedroom 😂 everything was so alive back then miss those days
@pipkinpan7814 ай бұрын
I remember the Presto advert with talking fruit and veg and I'm sure there was a branch in Bognor Regis where my nan lived!
@stacydraper10019 ай бұрын
I have fond memories of Littlewoods (also Index, which was located above our local Littlewoods store in Lewisham), C and A, BHS (I loved the fry ups in there, too! 😋), Our Price, and Beatties. Another favourite of mine which wasn't featured in the video was the toy shop Gamleys. Wonderful memories. Please keep making and sharing these videos 😊❤️
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Many thanks Stacy! Lots more nostalgic memories to come.
@strakermidwich96796 ай бұрын
I have an endearing image of Woolies. Being taken in by my Nan and Grandad and looking at all the yellow Rupert Bear books. Grandad would always buy me one and Nana would buy a big bag of pic n mix as a treat. Oh how we all miss those days.
@johnnyg17009 ай бұрын
Another shop on the go at the same time as Chelsea Girl was Jean Machine, seen a few doors along on the Chelsea Kings Road.
@martinsmith15389 ай бұрын
Fantastic nostalgia as ever.
@sarahlewis76699 ай бұрын
My Nana rented a telly from rumbelows . Nylon sheets were a nightmare. Nana was a grattons catalogue agent. Thank you for this walk down our shopping memory lane.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
My pleasure!
@joannesaltfleet20719 ай бұрын
I remember the Gratton catalogues from years ago!
@janicereadymartcher76966 күн бұрын
Haven’t seen the Co-op yet, it had a shop every few hundred yards, also an electrician shop that used to go to outlying estates. The Co-op also did home delivery as ell, a shop assistant would go around the estates taking orders from regular customers. The orders were then put in suitable sized cardboard boxes and left on the floor of the warehouse to be collected for home delivery. Home delivery was one or two boys on bicycles with huge baskets on the front, the boxes were carefully stack on the bikes in the order they would be delivered. Frequently the boy would have to sit on the bike seat to stop the back of the bike rising into the air with the weight of the groceries on the front.. It was my first job in 1963 and my wage was just under four pounds a week. Phil.
@aegisltd20189 ай бұрын
Nostalgic goodness! 😊 Love it
@walterkronkitesleftshoe66849 ай бұрын
A favourite trick of mine when visiting a friends house in the 70s was if a littlewoods or Grattons catalogue was laying on a table was to pick it up by the spine between my thumb and index finger and give it a gentle shake. No prizes for guessing where the pages of the catalogue would fall open !!!
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Love it!
@jeaniebottle67589 ай бұрын
John Collier ad took me back.. Rumbelows too. I remember Fosters. School ties. Brentford nylon sheets. Wow those were horrible. Chelsea girl was fab.
@Genevieve-qe1br3 ай бұрын
My family and I used to go shopping at Presto on Thursday evening….I miss those days 😞
@dawnyWestScotland9 ай бұрын
Oh the good old days 💙
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Great days indeed!
@101steel49 ай бұрын
Ooh Beatties. I remember standing in the Croydon branch dreaming 😂 I still have the blue RC bag somewhere.
@piggysister019 ай бұрын
Me! I remember Brentford nylons! 😂 I think that’s where we got our quilted bed spreads. Presto was my childhood supermarket in Grimsby. Watching these vids emphasises how little choice we have on the street now.
@Mav-dm5mb9 ай бұрын
Loving these videos, lost shops that come to mind are International, KeyMarkets and Gateways supermarkets, Texas Homecare, MFI, Comet, Barrets.
@ianjackson77268 ай бұрын
International supermarket bought out supermarket chain Mac Markets. Which was around in the 70s
@cyberleaderandy19 күн бұрын
There was a Brentford nylons store in Blackpool during the 70s. I remember my mum buying sheets from there whilst on holiday for some reason 😂
@MarkmanOTW9 ай бұрын
I remember these well (apart from Beatties - not where I lived). SW of London in Surrey we had Rumblelows competing with Granada and Radio Rentals for TV rentals. Other stores that disappeared - Clarks Bakeries, International Stores, Harlequin Records, Richards Shops, Comet (electrical goods warehouse), Allied Carpets, the Southern Electricity Board shop (sold white goods and where you could pay your electricity bill), Dolcis and Saxone (shoes). Also various local independents that were bought up or closed.
@stevewilson84679 ай бұрын
1.26: It's an Austin Ambassador Y reg! Always loved a trip to Beattie's in the St. John's Centre in LIverpool, cheers Stu.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
My pleasure!
@hayley70909 ай бұрын
Lots of happy memories here of being out shopping on a Saturday afternoon with my mum and dad. Now I'm a casualty of a defunct retailer myself. I worked at Wilko for nearly 20 years until they went under last October. It's a real shame our high streets are not a patch on what they once were.
@stevedavis68796 ай бұрын
..sad times. I hope you have found new work . Take me back to the 80s . I was born 74 and most of these on this clip I remember very well . 🙂
@hawkpaul87357 ай бұрын
I loved going through Beatties. They had some wonderful things. This video takes me back in so many other ways too. Thanks so much.
@Mozza1079 ай бұрын
Richard Shops? Very catchy jingle
@carolebarker21959 ай бұрын
I remember that. There also used to be a clothes shop called Van Allen, very trendy.
@spanishpeaches29309 ай бұрын
What about Fine Fare supermarkets ? That fantastic Littlewoods building, in Liverpool was abandoned around 1994 and then some pos torched it a few years back. The roof collapsed and the place was totally ruined...a grafitti ridden heap. However, it is being renovated shortly to film studios and other stuff.
@MarkAllison9 ай бұрын
Thanks Stu, another really enjoyable post. I always remember Rumbelows, along with Currys and Dixons. But also the TV rental shops - the name I remember is Rediffusion.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Thanks Mark. Glad you enjoyed it.
@Ihavetwoearsandonemouth9 ай бұрын
Loved woolies. Do you remember the deli where you could get garlic sausage and tongue.
@ThatsViews9 ай бұрын
And they sold tinned snails and tinned frog's legs. Also, tinned whole chickens.
@lucius45569 ай бұрын
I worked on a deli counter part time when I was at college many years ago..the tins of tongue in jelly would arrive and I had to empty them out and slice...you could actually see the massive tongues and it hadn't dawned on me when my parents ate tongue that it was really tongue 😅😅
@herrflick12449 ай бұрын
@ThatsnewsTV loved the tinned whole chicken, it was the only place I had seen them, pulling the chicken out of the tin squelching sound of jelly.makes you wonder how they managed to stick all that in the cylindrical tin. Last time I saw them were the late 80s there, also the processed cheese sluces there and big blocks of processed cheese that looked and tasted of plastic or luncheon meat. Hated that. Loved their iced buns there with the sweet dough.alot of woolworths food was imported from America and Holland.the cakes didn't have real cream but a glossy airy type that was really sweet.their jam fillings in some were a bit stingy
@chrisrixham67239 ай бұрын
So glad the algorithm brought this channel to me, proper memory lane. I bought my first suite from Fosters in 1984 when I was 17, to go to our local nightclub, had to wear a suit in those days no jeans or trainers, never forget old fluff Freeman on the Brentford nylons adverts, remember all these shops, great video again Stu 👍 Thanks
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Nice to have you here Chris! Glad you enjoyed the memories. Many thanks!
@scotttaylor-u5e5 ай бұрын
I lived in the other end of the country , in North Devon in a small town called Bideford. Presto was the first proper supermarket we had. It was amazing to my pre- teen mind! Lol. Then it became a Safeway . 😢
@steveh63739 ай бұрын
In the 70s friend's of my parents drove to Spain on holiday very adventurous and trendy at the time. They brought all Brentford nylon clothes cos a quick wash and hang dry no ironing. Well you can imagine in the heat they had to buy all new clothes.
@rob59449 ай бұрын
I built two R/C cars in a day from Tamya kits supplied by Beatties as a teenager after being highly impressed by one at a friend's house. They were a quality product and great fun (but expensive for poor old dad) racing around in the dirt, Frog and Hornet!
@spencerhardy86679 ай бұрын
Colonel Beattie, who started and ran the toy stores, was also the national chief of UK fire services during WW2. Prior to his work on standardisation, fire services would often have individual and incompatible equipment, causing problems when fire services tried to help each other in the early days of the Blitz, a problem highlighted at Coventry. His toy stores may have gone the way of the ringing bell on a Merryweather fire engine, but his work on unifying fire service equipment is still with us today. Double salute for Colonel Beattie.
@G_Fresh_UK_Extra9 ай бұрын
This is fast becoming my favourite Channel maybe is because my body is hitting 60 but my brain is hitting 21....lol,
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Brilliant, thanks!
@caz13859 ай бұрын
My dad had his work shirts from Brentford Nylons. I remember trying to iron them, it was hard to get the setting right. Too hot and it would burn or crinkle up, too cool and it still looked creased. ❤
@perham449 ай бұрын
In Glasgow we had Chelsea Girl and Chelsea Man in one store on Argyle Street. Concept Man was a seperate store all together.
@Daniel-Optician9 ай бұрын
My mate Harry the Bastsrd worked at Rumbelows
@mjc82819 ай бұрын
Ironically my first job and the only time I have been let go in work was a Presto store...... What was interesting about being let go from there was they had brought all the stock fillers maybe a dozen of us in on a Saturday evening for overtime and then fired us all the following week on the Thursday before our pay... No great shock no overtime in the pay-check the following day when I went to collect it... As I recall it took them more than 6 months for me to finally get the pay they owed me.. My guess is most of the people I had worked with had given up by then. My very next job in retail was about 20 years later as a regional manager of a chain, honestly I think the only thing I leant from Presto was to treat everyone you work with with honestly and respect something that was really lacking there.
@tintobrass5329 ай бұрын
We had a Brentford Nylons here in Brighton when i was a little lad in the 1970’s. I used to love Beatties in Brighton in the 1990’s, got all my Star Trek model kits from there. My first ever job when i was at uni in the late 1980’s was at Rumbelows; it was rubbish. Great video mate, thanks for uploading.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks!
@bobikdylan9 ай бұрын
Cuffs department store in my hometown, Woolwich, processed change and receipts using pneumatic tubes to and from accounts. In the late 60s that was already old fashioned, but as a kid I thought it was amazing.
@Spiderbaby669 ай бұрын
Fosters Menswear Alan Partridge will be happy 😂 As always a great trip down memory lane, cheers Stu.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Thanks!
@davidhinkson88569 ай бұрын
When I lived in England between 1977 and 1982 I loved going to Woolworth and Beatties owing to my model kit hobby. Always felt like a kid in a candy store at Beatties in particular because they also dealt with model trains and Scalextric sets. And I was sad to see that it's spiritual successor, Model Zone, has also disappeared. I also remember getting clothes from BHS and C & A.
@bobikdylan9 ай бұрын
Why was there a snooker hall above every Burton's? My brother worked for Dunn and Co. for donkeys years. Great quality old fashioned tweeds at low prices. In the 80s they called in the bean counters and asset stripped until it was all gone. It was owned by staff, George Arthur Dunn's gift to his staff, but by the time Price Waterhouse were done, there were few staff left. Just directors and senior managers who cleaned up. Ah, Littlewoods catalogue. The solace of many a teenage boy.
@paulanderson77969 ай бұрын
I remember it well.
@julianaylor43519 ай бұрын
My late father got his suits from Dunn and Co. because he was the head of a department at a private school, then later a deputy head master at a comprehensive.
@jeffholt94379 ай бұрын
😉
@tonyfincham61269 ай бұрын
Nice to see G.A.Dunn the hatters mentioned .Hats for all occasions along with caps .Head office Camden .
@bobikdylan9 ай бұрын
@@tonyfincham6126 I still wear a Dunn's tweed cap, among others, e.g. a Donegal tweed cap and an English tweed one. I am a university teacher in Poland, and I turn a few heads now and again when wearing (rocking, as they say nowadays) the olde English look. A few years ago I had a blue herringbone tweed suit made for me here in Poland. I bought five yards of cloth from a Yorkshire weaver and had a tailor make me a five piece suit (two trousers, one for a belt, one for braces. Proper buttons, not clips that ping off embarrassingly). Guess how much I paid.
@MrThegazzagy9 ай бұрын
Enjoyable nostalgia Excellent detail regarding dates and other info. Thanks for posting.
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Many thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
@deepblueday48179 ай бұрын
I loved the shop Laskys as a kid loads of cool Hi Fi and Telescopes...it was virtually next door to Beatties in Kingston upon Thames...Tandy was great too.
@ArtJourneyUK9 ай бұрын
Chelsea Girl and Concept Man became River Island. I was working at Concept Man when the transition took place, went home on a Thursday, came back to River Island on the Saturday!
@fuzzynutter83449 ай бұрын
I loved Beatties. Every time I went to Birmingham with my parents when I was a tad younger, I was always excited to pop in to Beatties which was located in the Pallasades shopping centre. I came across a branch in Bristol too during the mid-1990s. When a new shopping centre was being built in my home town 30 years ago, it was announced that Beatties would be one of the new anchor stores. I was excited, thinking it was the model shop, only to find out it was the department store 😂.
@thomascook5789 ай бұрын
My first job in retail was with Presto, my last was Morrisons, a full circle
@Foebane729 ай бұрын
There's a line in the BBC TV show "Bottom" about Rumbelow's about a television set owned by Richie and Eddie!
@FlyAmeliaEarheart9 ай бұрын
Exactly what I was thinking. But Richie went a few doors down to give the money to a special 'enhancement doctor'.
@joaniesoo9 ай бұрын
I used to work for Index, in the East Midlands, they were a rival to Argos, with the then popular catalogues shopping, we had mini blue plastic pens and also separate jewellery store,( we'd do watch batteries and ring sizing.) They were part of the Littlewoods group and disappeared a bit earlier before them iirc.
@kirkawhyte53233 ай бұрын
11:26 I remember that store well, that is Beatties in Watford we as kids would ALWAYS beg our Mum when She would go to Beajam's ( next door) and dream of buying a RC car,plane or Hovercraft!!
@londonroulette9 ай бұрын
Love your videos great memories and great details and info you give 👍👍👍👍
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Many thanks!
@juliebrooke60999 ай бұрын
I remember the lighting in Chelsea Girl was really gloomy and also that they had communal changing rooms with just a couple of cubicles for older women.
@darrengrimmer85419 ай бұрын
Great video.. I remember so many of those stores.. but Beatties was a great one for me.. I would go in and look most weekends as a kid because I was addicted to the Tamiya radio control car kits they sold.. the idea was you bought the kit.. it required building from scratch and then you added the radio gear and nicad batteries to get it running.. Great memories of great times!!!
@melmaggs7499 ай бұрын
I live in Wolverhampton and the beatties building is such a sad sight to see.
@philwoodall90239 ай бұрын
As a Black Country ExPat, I sympathise. I was there last month. I grew up with The much smaller Dudley store but the Wolverhampton store was special.
@DofTF9 ай бұрын
Great video, having worked in the shop fitting industry I fondly remember many of those names having traveled all over the country working on them 👍
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video.Thanks!
@IainThomson-dc8ge2 ай бұрын
I loved fine fare especially their yellow labelled crisps whenever I went on a picnic when I was a kid
@Nigel-xp4rf3 ай бұрын
SavaCentre used to be in Basildon and even though my brothers used to work there, I didn't know that it was part of BHS as well, but sometime in the early '00's it got replaced by ASDA and still nextdoor or part of Eastgate shopping center, as far as I know it might still be there, yet according to the Net, the town has reported to be the most dangerous place to visit, I remember British Homes Stores closing, as some of their stock was bought by M&S, and then the big branch near Westgate closed soon after.
@kins7499 ай бұрын
Presto - first time I ever saw barcodes work - seemed like magic! And Fosters, where everyone at school bought their ski jackets, jeans and shirts. Great video, more please
@stuviewtv9 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video. Many thanks! Lots more to come.
@rob59449 ай бұрын
My very first job was in the fruit and veg department at Presto paying £50 p.w. That was in the days when you filled in a paper form and hopefully someone would call you in for an interview. After Safeway took over they tried to go upmarket, expecting us to as well. I voted with my feet as they didn't seem to think much of us. Rumbelows were also in the precinct an ran a hire purchase scheme using a book as a payment record and I used it to buy an Amstrad Midi system. Over the weeks that followed I developed a rapport with the assistant manager, it was a nice shop. Fosters briefly had a small outlet down the road, it gave me the impression that somehow they were struggling, I did buy a couple of things in the early 90s there. I miss those days, everything was simpler and uncomplicated.
@DavidNettleton-l3r9 ай бұрын
Thanks again stu for another great trip down memory lane, who remembers shopping at grandways 😊😊😊
@joannesaltfleet20719 ай бұрын
They were a northern company weren't they Grandways and Dees as well.
@quietbatperson31159 ай бұрын
I miss Beatties Toy Shops. The branch in the Palasades (now Grand Central) in Birmingham had a train outside that you could play on. So many of my Polly Pockets came from that shop
@RichardCJohnson9 ай бұрын
Thank you I was trying to remember where the Beatties I used to go to was…as a Coventry resident that would have been my “local”
@philwoodall90239 ай бұрын
The Palasades was still a later name; I can't remember the original name but it was something totally benign like "The Birmingham Shopping Centre" the passage to the "Bull Ring Centre" was very clear.
@jeffholt94379 ай бұрын
Liptons! My friend Bob and I used to carry out "Operation Liptons" on a regular basis - save up our pocket money, buy shed loads of cakes, sweets etc. and then sit on the grass somewhere to scoff it all😊.
@walterkronkitesleftshoe66849 ай бұрын
Happy days!!! 👍
@jeffholt94379 ай бұрын
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Certainly were Walter!!!