Which high Street shops do you miss the most past /present

Flopsey That name is a blast from the past, conjures up the names of the other great shops of my youth - Those were the days! Swan and Edgar at Piccadilly Circus. Bourne and Hollingsworth and Marshall and Snelgrove in Regent Street, Army and Navy Stores in Victoria Street and Galeries Lafayette in Regent Street. Thanks for those memories.

BHS was great value. Austin Reed for DH shirts. Laura Ashley, Woolies and Jaegar and my local Lloyds bank,

There used to be a lovely up market grocery store in Brighton East Street. You could find (back in the day) all sorts of unusual ingredients and their meat was the very best. Sort of like F&M by sea???

I remember too a gorgeous empire line blue velvet evening dress from Richards. I was very slim back then.

But on the whole my favourite shops were the sort of independent boutiques you found in Brighton Lanes.

C & A,Woolworths,Littlewoods,BHS,Richard Shops,could have a nice day out shopping in Nottingham

Good old Woolworths, M&S and C&A are all very sadly missed from the past - though at the moment my 'most missed' is a visit to my local Costa Coffee .

My local bank! I'm now expected to go 33 miles away (can't do that now) and cannot phone them or get in contact other than by writing to them - still waiting for a reply to my letter of mid-December.

Would love to spend time looking around Wilkos or Poundland- brilliant.
Missing charity shops too for finding something unexpected!
Past shops that I miss include Benetton, Mikey jewellery,BHS, and Habitat.

BHS for their homewear, Richards - still have a lovely black wool 3/4 coat with fur fabric collar and it still looks good although hardly worn and C&A where I bought most of my clothes in the 70s/80s. Sadly so many lovely shops are now disappearing. Just not the same shopping on line (shows my age)!

Does anyone remember Peter Robinson on the corner of Oxford Street and Regent Street?
Again like everyone else loved C&A. Laura Ashley, Chelsea Girl and Biba’s and Habitat. Happy memories.

And Tunbridge Wells! But gone much more upmarket! Our Woolies became Topshop - wonder how long that will last?

Definitely, Woolworths and BHS. Especially BHS.
I absolutely loved that shop and used it a lot.

Primark replaced it, but not the same quality or styles I am used to.

From my youth Chelsea Girl, Biba, Etam, C&A, Littlewoods.
Going even further back, anyone remember Home & Colonial, lovely fresh foods.
More recently British Home Stores, Laura Ashley, Bon Marche and Edinburgh Woollen Mills.
Small independent hardware stores that sold screws and nails in small quantities (even just one!), and really knew about the things they sold.
Wet fish shops and proper butchers shops, there seem to be fewer and fewer of them about now.

Judy257, I'd forgot about Chelsea Girl and yes brill for discos at the weekend in the 80s. They have all changed now too, clubs with bump bump music. Yes I've turned into my mother.

I Had a lovely navy blue box bag.

Wish I still had it. Would love to find another one.

Junie

Not a High St. shop but how I miss Tommy Ball's shoes and clothes in Blackburn. Floors of Clarks seconds shoes, from baby's to adult's at rock bottom prices. Being able to buy my four children new school and best shoes there saved me a fortune and I always had the latest shoes for next to nothing.
And well known outdoor branded clothes at ridiculous prices,
£4 for full length down filled coat! Still wearing 30 years later!

M&S, as the one in our town closed down a couple of years ago. Now have to travel miles to the nearset, and haven't been for well over a year.

We had both a Littlewoods and M&S shop in the village many moons ago and it was years before I got used to them not being there. It was the death knell of the village when the two shops went. Never been the same since.

British Home Stores for their great range of lighting and Laura Ashley for lovely clothes ,which were beautifully finished on the inside too, for affordable prices.

I miss the factory shops too selling top quality curtain fabric , clothes and jeans . You only miss things when they re gone!

I miss Marks & Spencers for their underclothes. British Home Stores and C & A.

There was a Bus Stop shop in Manchester. Got many outfits from there in the 70s. Also loved Chelsea Girl. The joy of finding an outfit to wear on nights out with the girls.

Ladyleftfieldlover

Laura Ashley used to do brilliant sales. I remember taking my three children to the Oxford store on the first day of the sale and sitting them on a sofa while I shopped. Does anyone remember Fenwicks? I remember having a £5 perm in their Newcastle shop. I loved East. They did something a bit different for a posh do. Currently I still love John Lewis and over the last months have bought a lot on line! I miss bookshops, especially when they have a cafe. Someone mentioned Snob. When my daughter was around four, I bought her the most amazing patterned black dress. My mother was horrified and thought black wasn’t suitable, but she looked lovely in it. Now, nearly 40 years later I am buying my granddaughter black dresses and cardigans and she loves them.

Fenwick are still in Newcastle and York

C&A I still have boots i bought there that are older than my children and they are 40 and 36!

I don't really miss any of the big chains. I did like Woollies when I was young and it sold every little thing you might want, but it went gradually downhill. My DH was a manager there during its death throes, and the people who ran the company were constantly struggling to define its place in the market. It was no longer the cheapest or had the widest range of goods. You could no longer think "Oh, Woollies will have it!" because the chances were that they wouldn't. Basically, its major selling point had been reduced to pick 'n' mix.

I do miss some of the independent shops which have disappeared. There was a department store in my city, for instance, where we always shopped when I was young. There was also a rather posh shop, Simpkin & James, which was too expensive for regular shopping but their cakes were a special treat and their iced shortbread was fab. I miss them.

C&A, I found it still operating in Switzerland. Still a good variety of choice. BATA shoes as well.
A trip down memory lane.

BHS did lovely hats when friends in my age group were busy getting married — lots of choice and very reasonable.