Shops of yore

All that neon looks quite striking!

I worked at Barnby's Toyshop, Werffs ladies shop and Alexon Sale, all sadly no more. I loved the art shop run by Edith in Spon St, now sadly closed and the Midland Educational. All the dozens of shoe shops we lost, the pet shop, the tiny sweet shop in Hertford St. And Woolworths of course. The city is changing all of the time. I don't think the market is as good as it was.

I know this shop disappeared several years ago but does anyone know where to? It used to have lovely brands and xmas gifts which I cannot find in other delis . Anyone help please?

The business closed for good in January 2009 after a catastrophic drop in trade during 2008.

Back in the late 50s and early 60s I recall that much of the food shopping was done locally, although I think the family used Bausor's butchers (Fleet Street) and Docker's fishmongers (Bull Yard) Other than those, I often did the shopping on my bike for both my mum, and for my grandma who lived quite close by Mainly it was a trip into Mayfield Road in Earlsdon - Mrs Dunn on the corner of Huntingdon Road for greengrocery, Mr Brassington (grocer) on the opposite corner were the main destinations. On the corner of Mickleton Road was the local post office (which kept all new stamp issues for dad and for me) and opposite was Mr Ranby's wonderful sweet shop. Further along, on the corner of Stanway Road, Mrs Wagstaff had a grocery store, and my mum became quite friendly with her, so we didn't use Mr Brassington so much after that Last part of the trip was down to the bottom of Spencer Avenue for bread and cakes from Stead's on the corner of Albany Road There was never a "big shop" like today, just an expedition to buy what we needed for the next couple of days Happy days

I remember Mr Ranby's sweet shop in Mickleton Road. Several of us would make excursions from KHVIII to sample his splendid comestibles! We were also friendly with his son, Pete, who was about 2 years older than us. He also had an Afghan coat and long hair which made him seem very worldly-wise to us mere schoolboys!

I believe the street is called New Buildings. If my memory serves me right the pet shop was angular in shape, although I don't recall ever going inside I do remember watching the little monkey that was always in the window. Happy memories.

I remember Agers, also Dolcis. Now where was that. Shoe shops were my weakness you would think I could remember them wouldn't you. Trueform, Hiltons, John Brittains and Manfields - I think. Trying to picture where it was.

Agers shop still exists We knew the Orme family well as they lived opposite us, and the son was a contemporary at KHVIII

Corporation Street! Here's a more recent image

Had a couple of pairs from Agers in 2011. Still a nice shop.

Hi all Sad news this week is the demise of Jessops. They had two shops in Coventry for many years. I can't remember when their first shop opened in Coventry. 1968 comes to mind but that is only a guess.

Hi all, The start of this year has already seen the demise of three of our large retailers, adding to those that have gone previously. The building that now houses Boots, I still refer to as Woolies'. I suspect that we have not seen the last of these closures either. Book sellers must be high on the suspect list as is any retailer where what they sell can either be delivered to your door or sent down the wire. I mentioned earlier that some city centre vacant space may well become delivery points for on-line sales. Argos may have to change the way it conducts its business if it is to stay afloat. I saw a dot graph recently that showed a very strong link to those who have inter-net access to the pattern of their shopping, which is increasingly NOT in our city centre. Very often, when I am wandering around our market & city centre I feel in good company, as most of the folks shopping are of my age group. At the weekend there is a small increase in the younger age groups, but most of them have driven to the out of town shopping malls. The one group that may help our city centre are those attending the university, who are often without their own motorised transport. They will always need instant stuff to keep them warm & fed & so on, but they are also the group best informed regards internet availabilty. At the end of the day, it will all come down to the economics.

In what way were they "our" retailers Philip? I seem to remember these same faceless national chains putting dozens of independent local retailers out of business. I moved my own business from the city centre to mail order and the internet due to downright hostility from the city council and later from some of the remaining city centre businesses who have since gone bust! A former business partner did likewise and is still thriving but not in Coventry.

Hi Dutchman Coventry, like a lot of cities is dominated by one landowner, the city council or Coventry Ltd., as they sometimes call themselves, who dictate so much to anyone trying to run a business, but they lack commercial expertise I believe. Leamington in contrast has a high proportion of freehold commercial businesses, which might explain why so many Coventry people go to Leamington to shop nowadays, as well as Solihull. ps. It is amazing how £14m can suddenly be found from some fund or other, whilst our roads remain in such a poor state of repair.