High Street names that have completely vanished

waamo

Army and Navy store still exists but they only have a couple of shops now.

Malthusian

westernpromise wrote: »

Well this is it really. Colleagues from Germany who live in London but like to go for weekend citibreaks to Bath, Winchester, Salisbury, and so on, all comment that British high streets are all basically identical. The shops are all the same chains and the restaurants all sell the same food.

No, they go to the same chains and eat the same food, and then blame sersyertee for the fact that they are too lazy or risk-averse to go to the independent shops. You can't throw a brick in Bath without hitting a dozen excellent independent shops, cafes and restaurants. If they prefer to go to Costa because that's what they're familiar with, that's their choice.

No doubt it's a welcome refuge from wall-to-wall Pennymarkts and DMs in Germany.

Thrugelmir

Sapphire wrote: »

Although John Lewis still seems to be thriving

Even the mighty aren't immune.

The John Lewis Partnership has issued a warning ahead of its half-year results and announced the disposal of five Waitrose stores as a challenging market condition continues to take its toll.

The company said it expected half year profits before exceptional items to be “close to zero” this year.

However, it stressed that its first half results were “always much lower and more volatile” than the second half.

For the full year, the partnership said there could be “a wide range of possible outcomes”, but they were expecting profits before exceptional items would be “substantially” lower than last year.

Alongside market uncertainty, it explained that “significant extra costs” as a result of greater IT investment was set to be a “big driver” behind its overall profit change.

When looking at its Waitrose and John Lewis divisions separately, the partnership said it expected to see profit growth from the grocery arm and a decline in its department store arm.

However, four Waitrose convenience stores and one small supermarket are set to shut down, affecting around 200 staff.

Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, warned that the malaise “isn’t a blip”.

“It is very important that we feel the jeopardy of what is happening right now,” he said during the partnership’s strategy day today.

“This isn’t a blip, it is a major shift and it has a while to run.”

lindens

chris_m wrote: »

Bejam was bought by Iceland in 1989.

Maybe you were thinking (by word association) of Victor Value, bought by Tesco in 1968 and which Bejam bought from Tesco in 1986?

yes i was!

lindens

Chelsea Girl
Jean Jeanie

prowla

Malthusian wrote: »

No, they go to the same chains and eat the same food, and then blame sersyertee for the fact that they are too lazy or risk-averse to go to the independent shops. You can't throw a brick in Bath without hitting a dozen excellent independent shops, cafes and restaurants. If they prefer to go to Costa because that's what they're familiar with, that's their choice.

No doubt it's a welcome refuge from wall-to-wall Pennymarkts and DMs in Germany.

I would say that the comment is true of many town centres, but was surprised to see it associated with Bath.

lisyloo

You can't throw a brick in Bath without hitting a dozen excellent independent shops, cafes and restaurants. If they prefer to go to Costa because that's what they're familiar with, that's their choice.

Seconded.
I worked in Bath for about 15 years.
There are many lovely places down the back corridors, but you might have to turn you head off the main high st.

luvchocolate

Kendall and Sons .....rainwear company bought out by Next
Willis Ludlow

westernpromise

The point one of these blokes made to me is that regardless of what eaterie you go into, the food is always the same, In pubs it's steak and ale pie, fish and chips and chicken tikka. Or it's pizza/pasta. And so on. It's not just that all the eateries are Bella Pasta or Cafe Rouge. Even when they're not the menu is the same. He's right.

Bath does have a few independent shops but the overwhelming majority there and elsewhere are just the usual chains. Carphone Warehouse, Waterstones, M&S, etc etc. If you were blindfolded and set down in any British town then unless you could see and recognise a really obvious landmark - Bath Abbey, King's College Chapel - you would have no chance of guessing where you were. Nothing about Bristol distinguishes it from Brighton or Poole or Chester or Bournemouth or Oxford or Shrewsbury. All very same-same. This isn't really true of Germany, which is surprising considering how much of it was bombed flat then rebuilt all at the same time.

Sapphire

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Even the mighty aren't immune.

True, and when it comes to John Lewis, my local one does have a large segment on the ground floor that seems utterly pointless. It contains overpoweringly scented products with sticks coming out of them, soaps, candles, 'gifts', and so on. I never go there. When it comes to clothes, the effort to include them in the store seems half-hearted (Bentalls is better for clothes, since it has a wider range). I've occasionally bought a basic clothing product there, such as a T-shirt, but not for a long time. However, for the household items, John Lewis is excellent, and for me it helps to have the Waitrose actually in the store, in the basement.

In case no one has mentioned it, Lyons has also gone.