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C & A Modes

(117 Posts)
Mazgg Sun 15-Jan-23 10:29:58

Can anyone remember what C & A's more expensive range was called? In Newcastle (Northumberland Street Branch) it was on the top floor.
My friend and I have been trying to remember this without success. The ground floor had that weeks special buys, I remember hot pants, knitwear. It was the place to go on Saturday to buy an outfit for going out that night.

Molly10 Mon 16-Jan-23 15:15:04

Yes, definitely Yessica. I still have a lovely covered suit hanging in the wardrobe. Clockhouse and canda were other names in C & A too.

leeds22 Mon 16-Jan-23 14:41:17

My Mum told me she got her 'going away' outfit at C&A in Leeds in 1939 - a pale lilac suit. I used to like shopping there too, particularly the Yessica label.

ElaineRI55 Mon 16-Jan-23 14:08:37

I've still got one of the two embroidered cotton tops I got in C&A nearly 40 years ago I think. Mainly used in garden now, but not gone baggy and no pilling. It's Canda on the label. I think Sixth Sense was a more expensive range within C&A.

rosemary55 Mon 16-Jan-23 13:56:38

C & A is still going in Malta, and I think Portugal Google it

Maria59 Mon 16-Jan-23 13:49:36

Musicgirl in the 70s there was a popular song called candida it took me ages to convince my mother the Canda range was a different word.

Joseanne Mon 16-Jan-23 13:43:47

Oh yes canda, I remember.

Musicgirl Mon 16-Jan-23 13:34:08

I used to like the Clockhouse range as a teenager in the late 70s/early 80s. I think it was aimed at slightly younger customers. We quite often had clothes from the CANDA range and misread it for ages as Canada until it dawned on us that it was actually C AND A!

There was mention earlier of shell suits making an ignoble return. I wasin TK Maxx earlier today and saw velour tracksuits for sale. A blast that should definitely have remained in the past!

Joseanne Mon 16-Jan-23 13:23:54

Sorry, bio should read "organic" in English.

Joseanne Mon 16-Jan-23 13:23:06

Fleurpepper

I am in France at the moment and will pop in at C&A this afternoon!

There was definitely a C & A in both Rennes and St. Malo a few weeks ago. I'm sure I saw a leaflet or something about C & A being the biggest worldwide supplier of bio cotton garments.

Fleurpepper Mon 16-Jan-23 13:22:46

Ah thanks- learn something new everyday. Claude & Auguste, wow!

IrishDancing Mon 16-Jan-23 13:13:05

I would have loved be a “Saturday girl” in Belfast’s C & A in the 60’s/early 70’s. We always called it Claude & Alberts.

Supergranuation Mon 16-Jan-23 13:12:14

Avanti or was that somewhere else?

Grandmagrewit Mon 16-Jan-23 13:10:45

Back in the 70s and therefore long before it was possible to "Google" things, my mother decided to ask one of the shop assistants what "C & A" stood for and, quick as a flash, the reply came back "Courtesy & Attention, madam". Perhaps they were trained to say that! Now Google tells me that it's Clemens & Auguste (the name of the brothers who founded the company way back in 1841.

Fleurpepper Mon 16-Jan-23 12:57:00

I am in France at the moment and will pop in at C&A this afternoon!

albertina Mon 16-Jan-23 12:47:52

I can't remember what it was called , but I certainly remember C and A on Northumberland Street. My friend Penny and I thought we were the bees knees shopping there !

Summerfly Mon 16-Jan-23 12:41:39

I used to love their Clockhouse range. Slightly more modern than the rest.

Grandmacong Mon 16-Jan-23 12:33:39

I loved C&A back in the 60s. Not having much money my Mum always dressed me in my older sister’s hand-me-downs. I didn’t mind for ages until one ‘kind friend’ pointed this out to me and that evening Mum found me in tears in my bedroom as I had been made to feel so inferior. The next Saturday she took me to C&A (the one place she could afford) and told me I could pick 3 new dresses! WOW I was overjoyed! Those dresses I can still remember clearly - they gave me such a boost to my confidence and lasted ages. C&A became my go to place from then onwards once I was earning and the amazing thing is that their clothes always fit without any need to alter - unlike other retailers. A store sadly missed 😢

Glorianny Mon 16-Jan-23 12:26:58

Should be commas in there- the dress was pinstriped material-not the collar!
Eats shoots and leaves!

Glorianny Mon 16-Jan-23 12:25:49

I loved C&As. I remember buying a dress with a white collar made of pin striped material when the Bonnie and Clyde film came out, part of a range inspired by the film.
And a great maxi coat with a fur collar and fur round the hem I wore it for years.

EmilyHarburn Mon 16-Jan-23 12:17:28

I bought my first winter coat, a blue one, in C&A's I loved the shop and still miss them.

Bea65 Mon 16-Jan-23 12:13:36

C&A still very popular in Germany...the Heidelberg branch in the Fussgangerzone (pedestrianised area) is a great store...and yess I still have an orange/grey midi skirt with diagonal stripes which I bring out every summer as the elasticated waistband has grown with me grin magic!

Jens Mon 16-Jan-23 12:08:40

C & A still going strong in Stuttgart, Germany, their exclusiv range is called Sixth Sense. I loved it when I lived there, lovely stuff I still have jackets, trousers, tops and shoes! Quality hard to find today, classic styling good for mature ladies!!!!!! I left there 2009 so the quality speaks for itself.

Fleurpepper Mon 16-Jan-23 11:57:29

Bellocchild

Still pick up C&A stuff in Spain. Only disappeared in the UK.

Yes, still active in 18 European countries. Only stopped in UK.

Nannabumble70 Mon 16-Jan-23 11:55:14

Loved CANDA

Bellocchild Mon 16-Jan-23 11:47:34

Still pick up C&A stuff in Spain. Only disappeared in the UK.