We all know our beloved high streets are in peril, with the rise of online shopping, free returns and next day delivery - shopping from the comfort of your sofa has never been easier.
But what about those afternoons and weekends we used to spend walking up and down the high street trying to find the best bargain or perfect pair of shoes...
From rummaging through the shelves at Beatties to dressing up in the Tammy Girl changing rooms, which stores and memories do you miss the most?
Woolworths
One of Britain’s most quintessential high street stores has got to be Woolworths.
As kids we used to run in after school to grab a bag of pick n mix whilst tasting the odd one as we went.
Mum’s always referred to it as ‘Woolies’ and no back-to-school shop was complete without stopping into the store.
The Regents Street Woolies closed its doors in 2008 as the company went into administration.
Tammy Girl
Tammy Girl was the pre-teen dream shop back in the 90’s and there was nothing quite like strutting to the Parade and finding the ultimate school disco outfit.
Tammy Girl stores could be found in every small town’s shopping centre until the clothing company was bought by BHS in 2005.
Timothy Whites
Timothy Whites was a chemist and houseware store that first opened in Portsmouth in 1848.
From then, it went on to have over 600 stores up, including one on Bridge Street, until it was bought by Boots in 1968.
Radio Rentals
Founded in Brighton in 1930, Radio Rentals was iconic in it’s day as the shop to rent your radio, television or video recorders.
The company boomed at the turn of the 1980’s when we all wanted the latest TV sets and material gadgets in our homes at affordable prices.
In the 90’s Radio Rentals brought the iconic Rumbelows stores that once rivalled the likes of Currys, Dixons and Comet.
The head office of Radio Rentals was on Percy Street before it moved to Shrivenham Road in 1969.
However, the company became defunct in 2000 as electronics became cheaper to buy and the need to rent became less.
Blockbuster
Our grandchildren will never know the excitement of a Friday night trip to Blockbuster to rent a few movies for the weekend.
Part of the old Blockbuster at the Orbital shopping centre is now a Costa.
Before the likes of Netflix and TV on-demand, Blockbuster was the place to go to choose what to watch and get some perfect movie snacks.
The film, TV and games rental company went into administration in 2013.
Do It All
Once upon a time Do It All was well known as the place to go to stock up on essential DIY and home improvement goods.
But with fierce competition coming from the likes of Homebase and B&Q the DIY store closed its doors in 2011.
Our Price
You probably brought your first single here and your second and perhaps your third …
Our Price used to be a popular record store selling everything including CD’s and tapes.
The company started in 1971 but closed in 2004 with the rise of MP3’s and music download sites.
Freeman Hardy and Willis
Known as the shop to buy shoes for ‘all the family’, there was a branch of Freeman Hardy and Willis in nearly every town across the country, including Regent Street on the high street.
The shop used to wrap their shoes in iconic brown paper bags, imprinted with the letters FHW which became known as the legend ‘for happy walking’.
During the 90’s many Freeman Hardy and Willis stores were turned into Hush Puppies stores and the empire closed in 1996.
Toys R Us
Not quite on the high street but this iconic toy store couldn’t be missed off the list.
The old Toys R Us site near the White Hart roundabout was sold last year.
The toy giant announced in March 2018 that all UK stores would begin liquidation and be closed within six weeks.
The shop's rival, Smyths, purchased Toys R Us stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as their head office in Cologne.
Beatties Model Shop
The much-loved model toy shop was a tinkerer’s dream, from toy cars to model railway sets and lots more.
Beatties stores were all over the UK with lots of children, fathers and grandads running to their nearest store at the weekend to get a project to work on.
Back in the day, having a Beatties Club charge account would make you the envy of everyone in the playground or even pub.
The toy store closed in Swindon in 1998 and went into administration in 2001.
If we have missed your favourite by-gone shop, let us know in the comments!
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