From Mothercare to Blockbuster, and even Laura Ashley, even the titans of Britain’s high streets don’t last forever (Picture: GETTY / REX)
Retailers rise and fall on Britain’s high streets.
What was once a cinema may now be a McDonald’s, while many of our favourite brands have vanished from storefronts.
Some of them were titans of their age, with a nationwide network of branches where generations made memories of weekend shopping trips in our youth.
Here are some you may have forgotten.
Blockbuster
Can you remember a time before streaming services, when deciding what to watch on a Friday night meant trawling through shelves at a Blockbuster store?
Netflix actually started as a by-mail competitor of the DVD rental chain, 22 years after Blockbuster was formed.
Despite being a late starter, Netflix has grown into a streaming giant while Blockbuster closed the last of its UK stores in 2013.
It had had roughly 800 at its peak just a decade before.
C&A
There are still more than 1,000 C&A stores around the world, and you can buy their clothes online.
But the Dutch-born chain called it quits in the UK in 2001 after 89 years in the market, selling some of its 109 stores to Primark.
Its demise in this country came due to competition from rising high street brands, some of which – like Topshop – have also not survived.
Tie Rack
Tie Rack sold an array of ties, belts, cufflinks and scarves from 1981 to 2013 (Picture: Mike Kemp/Corbis News via Getty Images)
Forged on the most iconic street in British retail – London’s Oxford Street – in 1981, this brand rose to be a chain of more than 300 stores in 31 countries by 2009.
You could find a new tie for your first day in the office, cufflinks for special events, or a last minute Father’s Day present.
But by 2013, the shutters were down for good.
JJB Sports
JJB Sports had debts of £150million when it closed in 2012 (Picture: Paul Thomas/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This store was once as iconic for its hometown of Wigan as owner David Whelan, who went on to buy Wigan Athletic.
Under his control, the brand grew from a single shop on the high street to one of the largest sportswear retailers in the country.
But shares had fallen from a total value of £500million in 2010, to just £1.2million by the time it went bankrupt and its 180 stores closed in 2012.
Mothercare
Thousands of mothers had to find an alternative supplier after Mothercare closed in 2019 (Picture: Matthew Chattle/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
How many memories were formed by parents buying clothes or prams for their first, second or third children during Mothercare’s 58 years on the high streets?
It was the go-to shop for most parents until the big supermarkets, fast fashion brands and online shopping chipped away at its business.
With baby and children’s clothes available all over the place, it no longer held enough market dominance to keep 150 stores open.
While they closed in 2019, the Mothercare brand survives in products sold by Boots.
Woolworths
Woolworths was just 10 months …read more
Source:: Metro
