More Lost Shops of the Past

[@pronabol]

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.

[@spanishpeaches2930]

The past is another country : (

[@fluffyfour]

@@spanishpeaches2930 Except you can't get there by plane! :)

[@Makeyourselfbig]

Defunked Supermarkets and model shops do not a culture make. Businesses begin and end. They call it capitalism.

[@AveCaesar2025]

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

[@spanishpeaches2930]

@@AveCaesar2025 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.

[@richardh8082]

John Collier. John Collier. The window to watch! :)

[@bobikdylan]

That jingle went straight through my head the second I saw the picture.

[@Julie-sm7sp]

@bobikdylan mine too 😁

[@misst.e.a.187]

Dum dumudum; dum dumudum

[@huwlewis9059]

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-wi8gw]

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)

[@SafetyProMalta]

"Mum, the Rumbelows man is here" 24 inch colour tv on tick. Weighed half a ton.

[@lucius4556]

We had rediffision with a small box thing in the window to turn it over lol..until we got a colour set😂

[@carolebarker2195]

TV man with a bad back, lol.

[@Mike-James]

@@lucius4556 My dad used to work for redi, repairing tv's.

[@herrflick1244]

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.

[@lucius4556]

@@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.

[@Ginger_Dalek]

Ah! The memories of coming home from school and seeing Mum had a new Littewoods catalogue... 😉😂

[@fus149hammer5]

Ah so it wasn't just me then?😂😂😂👍

[@jaycfc6955]

I wonder what section you looked at first 😂

[@johnross2924]

We all loved the bra page's ☺️

[@fus149hammer5]

@@johnross2924 Bra and knickers....

[@tintobrass532]

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….

[@RubyMc-v4i]

❤ Chelsea Girl on a Saturday.. Oh them days…

[@gill8779]

Also do you remember Amber fashions & Richards shops?

[@RubyMc-v4i]

@@gill8779 👍

[@ladydreadqs639]

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.

[@bobikdylan]

The summer of 76 was hot enough. Then mum bought nylon sheets. Thanks mum.

[@mrlodwick]

haaaaaa did you rub them hard and see the sparks

[@rosegolding925]

😂🫶❤

[@Pythonaria]

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.

[@Pomdownuder]

Nylon sheets and nylon carpets - what's not to love⚡

[@sameoldrecord]

We had nylon sheets aaaand nylon nighties

[@ChrisJohnson-te3eg]

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.

[@philwoodall9023]

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-f6v]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

My pleasure!

[@peterclarke3619]

Dont forget the vape shops 😢

[@luckysembry5508]

And takeaways!

[@philtowle4683]

And charity shops

[@AndriyValdensius-wi8gw]

@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.

[@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

My pleasure! Thanks as always.

[@arthurstack6278]

Remember Timothy Whites. Often used to pop in there at the weekend. Very similar store to Boots

[@Daisy-tl2lh]

Nothing like spending a winters evening with the Littlewoods catalogue planning our summer holiday and summer wardrobe ...

[@dawnyWestScotland]

1/2p wow 😆 the memories. We want Woolworths to make a come back! ☀️

[@paulanderson7796]

That was destroyed in 2008 by the "recession". Recessions are created deliberately. International financiers are good at this.

[@julianaylor4351]

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.

[@johnnyg1700]

You can still find Woolworth stores in Australia

[@paulanderson7796]

@@johnnyg1700 That's a completely different company with no links whatsoever to F. W. Woolworth of European origin.

[@dawnyWestScotland]

@@johnnyg1700 I think they had a Woolworths in Germany too.

[@donnahollins5071]

Purple bri nylon sheets and a floral nylon nightie. Lit up like Blackpool illuminations !

[@hilaryjuliecoxon5434]

😅😅😅

[@landscapedetective4064]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

Wow, who knew bacon could be so lethal?

[@zombiebiker5581]

No you know where the saying,,,,,,,,slapped ham

[@matthewhopkins666]

@@stuviewtvOr that pigs really could fly.

[@Daracdor]

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 !

[@billiondollarman3847]

I remember Zodiac Toys store. It was a world of wonder and joy when I was a kid in 70s. 😊

[@loftlegacy]

Yes, we had a Zodiac in Blackburn. For a fairly modest sized shop, they had a massive selection.

[@julianaylor4351]

I have a set of books on famous explorers that I collected week by week from Zodiac Toys.

[@cazharris5581]

Zodiac toys had everything a kid wanted in the 70s, I got all my Sindy stuff from there…

[@cdub5033]

@@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.

[@loftlegacy]

@@cdub5033 for models later in life it had to be Mercers on Northgate.

[@k.edwards3138]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

Glad you are enjoying the memories on the channel! Many thanks for watching.

[@Zodiac1981-i4f]

I love this channel because it gives me major feelings of nostalgia in a good way not a sad way if that makes sense 😊

[@stuviewtv]

That's great to hear. Thanks!

[@Joanna7428]

Tammy Girl, Our Price....Etams! I miss those...i remember my nan talking about Prestos!

[@stevedavis6879]

I think Prestos were still going strong in the 80s , as I was born in 74 and vaguely remember them .

[@stuartlauderdale8382]

As a long time resident of Washington Tyne and Wear Sainsbury's is still called Savacentre by many locals.

[@lee4171]

Beatties in Piccadilly gardens, Manchester. Scalextric and Tamiya model heaven for me!

[@TheCatBilbo]

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 😊

[@johnp8131]

I remember buying trousers from Foster Brothers, highly fashionable in 1976 but felt like they were made of sand paper!

[@alexday5892]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

You are spot on with that! That particular ad was indeed shown in cinemas.

[@carolebarker2195]

Pearl & Dean probably!

[@TCHorwood-xq7mw]

"Just 200 yards from this cinema."

[@nicolasykes6637]

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.

[@julianaylor4351]

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.

[@pigknickers2975]

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 :)

[@ianr]

Great video again! Yes....I still have nightmares about my mother buying Purple Nylon sheets from Brentfords. Used to hate going to bed! 😄

[@nellspencer6417]

Know what you mean, the sparks comming off my nylon nightie hitting nylon sheets.

[@trevorbrown6654]

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

[@xXTheSammichXx]

Beatties in Southgate was the place where I used buy all my Citadel miniatures and Games Workshop stuff. Good times.

[@kevy1967]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

What a marvellous little treasure.

[@herberthartwig8544]

Remember most Stu, thanx for the Memories 👍

[@stuviewtv]

My pleasure!

[@frankhovis]

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.

[@Joncl]

Brushed nylon was just itchy, and I remember sweating in my nylon sheets 😢

[@hilaryjuliecoxon5434]

Ruddy awful,nyon sheets.😔

[@rw8733]

Happier, better days. Thanks, Stu. Brilliant 😊

[@stuviewtv]

Happy days indeed! Many thanks as always.

[@steevobarker581]

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.

[@luckysembry5508]

I remember shoe shop Freeman, Hardy and Willis.

[@thornbird6768]

Curtis as well

[@pipkinpan781]

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!

[@Julie-sm7sp]

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 🙂

[@snowysnowyriver]

I remember Timothy Whites! There always seemed to be a fierce battle between TWs and Boots. I think Boots bought them out eventually.

[@Julie-sm7sp]

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 😂😂

[@fus149hammer5]

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-sm7sp]

@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 😊

[@stephenguppy7882]

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!☺👍

[@sarahlewis7669]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

My pleasure!

[@joannesaltfleet2071]

I remember the Gratton catalogues from years ago!

[@gjwestonable]

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.

[@paulanderson7796]

Zodiac had a small outlet in Uxbridge during the 70s and 80s.

[@stuviewtv]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks! I remember Beatties and Zodiac in Wolverhampton very well.

[@philipdouglas5911]

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.

[@dawnyWestScotland]

Oh the good old days 💙

[@stuviewtv]

Great days indeed!

[@martinsmith1538]

Fantastic nostalgia as ever.

[@RHR-221b]

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 👋 🕊

[@stuviewtv]

Many thanks Rab.

[@aegisltd2018]

Nostalgic goodness! 😊 Love it

[@johnnyg1700]

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.

[@bobikdylan]

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.

[@paulanderson7796]

I remember it well.

[@julianaylor4351]

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.

[@jeffholt9437]

😉

[@tonyfincham6126]

Nice to see G.A.Dunn the hatters mentioned .Hats for all occasions along with caps .Head office Camden .

[@bobikdylan]

@@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.

[@spanishpeaches2930]

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.

[@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684]

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 !!!

[@stuviewtv]

Love it!

[@stacydraper1001]

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 😊❤️

[@stuviewtv]

Many thanks Stacy! Lots more nostalgic memories to come.

[@G_Fresh_UK_Extra]

This is fast becoming my favourite Channel maybe is because my body is hitting 60 but my brain is hitting 21....lol,

[@stuviewtv]

Brilliant, thanks!

[@susanduke9835]

I was looking at the wall paper in the background - had that in my bedroom 😂 everything was so alive back then miss those days

[@stevewilson8467]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

My pleasure!

[@jeaniebottle6758]

John Collier ad took me back.. Rumbelows too. I remember Fosters. School ties. Brentford nylon sheets. Wow those were horrible. Chelsea girl was fab.

[@101steel4]

Ooh Beatties. I remember standing in the Croydon branch dreaming 😂 I still have the blue RC bag somewhere.

[@MarkmanOTW]

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.

[@strakermidwich9679]

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.

[@Genevieve-qe1br]

My family and I used to go shopping at Presto on Thursday evening….I miss those days 😞

[@Foebane72]

There's a line in the BBC TV show "Bottom" about Rumbelow's about a television set owned by Richie and Eddie!

[@FlyAmeliaEarheart]

Exactly what I was thinking. But Richie went a few doors down to give the money to a special 'enhancement doctor'.

[@MarkAllison]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

Thanks Mark. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@Mav-dm5mb]

Loving these videos, lost shops that come to mind are International, KeyMarkets and Gateways supermarkets, Texas Homecare, MFI, Comet, Barrets.

[@ianjackson7726]

International supermarket bought out supermarket chain Mac Markets. Which was around in the 70s

[@caz1385]

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. ❤

[@hayley7090]

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.

[@stevedavis6879]

..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 . 🙂

[@steveh6373]

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.

[@perham44]

In Glasgow we had Chelsea Girl and Chelsea Man in one store on Argyle Street. Concept Man was a seperate store all together.

[@kirkawhyte5323]

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!!

[@spencerhardy8667]

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.

[@Ihavetwoearsandonemouth]

Loved woolies. Do you remember the deli where you could get garlic sausage and tongue.

[@ThatsViews]

And they sold tinned snails and tinned frog's legs. Also, tinned whole chickens.

[@lucius4556]

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 😅😅

[@herrflick1244]

@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

[@Mozza107]

Richard Shops? Very catchy jingle

[@carolebarker2195]

I remember that. There also used to be a clothes shop called Van Allen, very trendy.

[@chrisrixham6723]

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

[@stuviewtv]

Nice to have you here Chris! Glad you enjoyed the memories. Many thanks!

[@rob5944]

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!

[@bobikdylan]

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.

[@quietbatperson3115]

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

[@RichardCJohnson]

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”

[@philwoodall9023]

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.

[@piggysister01]

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.

[@melmaggs749]

I live in Wolverhampton and the beatties building is such a sad sight to see.

[@philwoodall9023]

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.

[@ArtJourneyUK]

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!

[@joaniesoo]

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.

[@dazsmash5281]

Wow amazing history of some of some of these stores.....Chelsea girl now river island, me and the girlfriend watching this were like wow as we remember most of these...old that we are lol. How about the history of green shield stamps and what that is today, couldn't believe it when I found out a few years ago. Thanks for producing these brilliant walk down memory lane clips 👍👏

[@stuviewtv]

Glad you enjoyed the memories! Many thanks for watching.

[@GlenysThomson]

Luncheon Vouchers as part of your wages

[@hawkpaul8735]

I loved going through Beatties. They had some wonderful things. This video takes me back in so many other ways too. Thanks so much.

[@DavidNettleton-l3r]

Thanks again stu for another great trip down memory lane, who remembers shopping at grandways 😊😊😊

[@joannesaltfleet2071]

They were a northern company weren't they Grandways and Dees as well.

[@MrThegazzagy]

Enjoyable nostalgia Excellent detail regarding dates and other info. Thanks for posting.

[@stuviewtv]

Many thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@tintobrass532]

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.

[@stuviewtv]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks!

[@mjc8281]

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.

[@thefrecklepuny]

Another defunct name is Grandways supermarket. Most well known in Yorkshire. I used to o work for them in Leeds as a teenager on Saturdays.

[@gill8779]

Was it near the bus station? I vaguely remember it & my mum shopping there.

[@rajnirvan3336]

Beautiful shops great memories

[@deepblueday4817]

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.

[@Spiderbaby66]

Fosters Menswear Alan Partridge will be happy 😂 As always a great trip down memory lane, cheers Stu.

[@stuviewtv]

Thanks!

[@craiggilchrist4223]

I worked at Beatties Toys and Models at the flagship store in The Pallasades in Birmingham back in the 90's.

[@andrewhead6267]

I had a Saturday job at the Watford branch of Beatties (shown in the opening shots of the brand in the video). The business owner (Richard Konstein?)lived nearby and would pop in and park behind the store. £6 for 8 hours work plus an unpaid hour of breaks. Hoovered the shop at the end of the day, then walked with the Asst Manager to put the takings into the night safe. You got a decent staff discount. Really enjoyed those Saturdays.

[@jeffholt9437]

​@@andrewhead6267I remember the Watford shop. I believe the owner was the importer of Tamiya model kits at the time which probably explains why the model department was full of them!!!

[@andrewhead6267]

@@jeffholt9437 Yes I think he had another business called RiKo which imported all sorts of modelling stuff. When he popped in he would ask for Lemon tea. Bearing in mind we had no staff fridge and used coffee mate powder for staff hot drinks. That meant running out to the next door coop food hall to buy a lemon and slice it up with a craft knife for his drink.

[@kins749]

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

[@stuviewtv]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Many thanks! Lots more to come.

[@DofTF]

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 👍

[@stuviewtv]

Glad you enjoyed the video.Thanks!

[@NeilY1000]

Another lost shop was ‘Leo’s’ the supermarket. My nan used to shop there in the early 80’s in Liverpool. Was in the north mainly from memory

[@janicereadymartcher7696]

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.

[@leechilds3725]

Remember presto in the 80s in South London. It didn't last long. Also, Timothy Whites and gamley s toy shop & alders department store ! Though I was a young kid I still have fond memories

[@davidhinkson8856]

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.

[@thomascook578]

My first job in retail was with Presto, my last was Morrisons, a full circle

[@xxFORDIExx]

Gamleys toy stores were a port of call for me as a kid. Not sure when they closed for good.

[@Dom79217]

The one in East Grinstead limped along until sometime in the early 2000's. The owners weren't the most generous to their staff apparently.

[@xxFORDIExx]

@@Dom79217 I actually wasn't sure how long they lasted, or how many shops were about back in the day. They were always pretty overpriced iirc lol.

[@Dom79217]

Not sure either but they had everything. Britains, Deetail, Action Man, Corgi, Dinky, Meccano, Lego plus all the board games and prams/dolls downstairs. I think you're right on price as I could hardly ever afford anything but always popped in for a long gaze.

[@xxFORDIExx]

@@Dom79217 at least it was cheaper than Hamleys 🤣

[@londonroulette]

Love your videos great memories and great details and info you give 👍👍👍👍

[@stuviewtv]

Many thanks!

[@ernestfoster4800]

One of the Bradford Rumbelows stores you showed on the video was origanally a Vallances store, another name that has disapeared. Spent many a dinner break looking for records in there.

[@joannesaltfleet2071]

They had a valances shop in Hull as well!

[@scotttaylor-u5e]

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 . 😢

[@tomhaskett5161]

5:35 the 'with it' ad for John Collier was wonderful!