C & A Modes

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

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 !

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

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.

Avanti or was that somewhere else?

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.

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

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.

Sorry, bio should read "organic" in English.

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!

Oh yes canda, I remember.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

My mother used to love/buy C&A clothes then cut the labels out - after she died I could always tell which were her C&A clothes. What a snob.

I live in Southern Spain (Costa del Sol) and I have C&A about 10 minutes from me--still love it !

I bought ski gear for the whole family in C&A Marble Arch. very trendy, and functional. loved it.

I purchased a black winter coat from Leeds C & A, Boar Lane in the 70's when I was in my 30's and wore it continuously. It was such a useful coat, covered all and everything, beautifully styled with swing back. The lining started to deteriorate through continuous use so I took it to a local tailor and had it completely re-lined. I am still wearing it for funerals and when it is really cold. I am now 83 and cannot see my ever disposing of it. I bought it from the Top Floor

annifrance

I bought ski gear for the whole family in C&A Marble Arch. very trendy, and functional. loved it.

Same here, and they also did large sizes! Hurrah.

Looked today at a French C&A, no ski gear at all.

Bring back C&A’s and British Home Stores.
Loved them both.

My posh mother in Law's nickname for them was "Cheap and Awful" but my Mum's nickname for them was " Charles and Allen"

I do wonder why they closed UK stores whilst in the rest of Europe they are still going strong. And don't worry, I won't say 'B' - as they did so a long time before that!

Fleurpepper Here is the answer to your question. www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/c-amp-a-a-sad-tale-of-the-highstreet-store-that-went-from-coats-and-ats-to-closure-and-acrimony-5370577.html