Shops of yore

I think you'll find that's the Barracks Market entrance? There's a picture of the Smithford Street entrance showing Stone's shop in one of the local history books but I can't remember which one.

Yes that`s it - many thanks. It looks pretty modern for its time 1920s?

I worked at the pet shop next to the huge bird cage. I had the job of cleaning it out every Saturday. It also had a fruit bat upstairs which we let fly around the top floor at night. In the morning we would find it hanging on one of the wicker dog beds. The shop also had a small monkey, poor thing would only let one person anywhere near it. Wonder what happened to the monkey?. I was only there 10 weeks way back in 1964.

I was a regular visitor to that pet shop in the 60s and remember the fruit bat very well. I also recall that they had a variety of exotic birds including a toucan. I'm not sure if they were ever intended for sale or just an attraction to get people through the door, as they were there for a long time.

As a kid I had a whim for a Crystal set Radio which I bought in about 1960 from a shop called REP in Paynes Lane. Later on I decided to build a Radio from scratch and built a single-valve kit from the same shop. REP stood for Radio Experimental Products and their products were branded Repanco. Amazingly enough, they're still going as Repanco-Bartlett, and make custom tranformers and coils. If you follow the link, the illustration on the website is my one-valve radio. Amazed ! http://www.repancobartlett.co.uk/index.html I also recall a Barton Brothers shop in City arcade which sold electronic stuff. My family had an Ironmongers on Ball Hill called Trinder and Lawrence.

Hi Davey There was a discussion of REP earlier in the Shops of Yore thread Radio Experimental Products

Hi Davey, Over the years, much of my model railway electronics came from the various locations of this business, the last of which was as you said in the City Arcade.

I also dabbled in electronics from the age of about 15 but in my case with transistors as it was the mid '70s. At the time I also was trying to learn to play the electric guitar and I built some kits for different sound effects like wah wah. I also tried to transistorise an old reel to reel tape recorder but was well out of my depth on that project and never got it to record. You really need a 'scope for that sort of project to set up the 50 khz erase/bias oscillator. I did use the Electronics Services shop you mentioned but also bought some stuff by mail order. I would have loved to visit the Henrys Radio shop in Edgeware, London as they always had fascinating adverts in the electronics mags. I'm sure I must have handled Repanco transformers at some stage as the name seems very familiar. I still like reel to reel machines and now have a few valve and transistor ones, plus valve radios, radiograms and record players.

To clarify the location of R.E.P. let me confirm that I worked there from 1955 to 1958. The location was 33 Much Park Street. There were four partners running the business, Ron Reynolds, Howard Nelson, Stan Penn and a Mr Cleaver? who was a silent partner. There was a workshop on the opposite side of the road where the transformers and coils were made and crystal sets assembled. Beneath the shop at number 33, there was a store of government surplus equipment some used in the manufacturing side and some sold in a shop on the opposite side of the road. There was a television and radio repair section located in Earlsdon Avenue. Later the manufacturing section moved to the O'Brien building on the Foleshill Road. I don't know about the move to the High Street as it was after my time there.

I now believe it was Barton Brothers in Paynes Lane before they moved to CIty Arcade & they stocked REP products. If my Dad was still alive he'd have told me that !

There was a Browns Electrical next to the garage in Paynes Lane the garage later became Unit Sales.

In the 70's and 80's I repaired several guitar amplifiers made by Parrot Electronics. They were made in Coventry in Foleshill Road and I'm pretty sure it was in the Repanco Building, although I think they were an independent company. They were very high quality and sturdy amps. Can anybody shed any light on them?

They still do make electronic kit. I bought a car Bluetooth phone thingy for my son Christmas time made by Parrot. There was or is loads of Parrot stuff on Amazon.

Thanks Norman Conquest. I'm not sure that is the same company, it appears to be a French company and was not founded until 1994. Their early kit looks like voice recognition software so Parrot would be a good name to choose, although they could of course just bought up the name.

Probably not the same firm. I promise to do better in future.