Shops of yore

Leaving the no.7 bus in Croft Road, I am sure I remember the river being there over a fence before it went under Queen Victoria Rd. Behind the river was the G.E.C. car park I think, and across from the lights that was there on the junction with Queen Victoria Rd was Bejam (the frozen food shop). Way before the likes of Farmfoods and Iceland there was our very own frozen food outlet. The quick trips into town meant getting off the bus there. First stop was the market, then the fish market for prawns in vinegar that was eaten there and then. Then a quick go on the round-about, while mum and dad had a coffee at the cafe there, before heading to Bejams for the frozen food. Lines of massive freezers with lids you could hardly open because of their size. They also sold fridges and the like at the front of the shop. Then it was back across to Croft Rd to wait by the Royal Mail sorting depot for the no.7 back home again. Happy Days

Bejams, that's a blast from the past Baz, had forgotten all about them being there.

It was originally a GEC showroom and office before being converted to a supermarket. I bet no-one here can tell me the name of the supermarket it first became?

Guessing now Dutchman, was it Fine Fare or Sainsburys?

Not entirely sure, but Victor Value rings a bell. The other name I thought of was Fine Fare, but I can't remember for sure if there was one in that area.

You're both very close. It was actually Foodfare which became Victor Value for a number of years until taken over by Tesco in 1968. All of the former Foodfare stores were then sold to Bejam in 1986.

One shop that will bring back memories is Unit Sales on Lythalls Lane. I think they had another shop somewhere, but cannot recall where. Laminated woodchip cupboards that tended to fall apart when screwed together. Only available in white. That is my memory of them. What was yours? Then there was the Co-op. Yes we all remember this and still shop there from time to time in the city centre, but how many of us went on the Christmas sleigh ride in the basement. When I was younger, I really believed that we went to the North Pole on it. This was the best part of Christmas shopping with mum and dad.

I believe my dad used one in Paynes Lane

I remember that shop, wallpaper by the ton in that back room.

The sleigh ride is still open every Xmas and the first people to try it out each year are the staff! The basement though is no longer open to the public being used instead for stock. The basement actually predates the current building and is a remnant of a pre-war factory. It only extends under half the building as the river runs under the other half!

I was walking past the former site of Shambles Arcade yesterday and a lady was lecturing her young kids on the shop that used to be there. I was very tempted to stop and give her a lecture on all the other buildings in Hales Street that have also now gone

The one I used a lot in the early 1960s was Electronic Services, not far from the old Morris Works. Bought a lot of stuff, mostly components from them. Found this leaflet in my files which has their stamp - probably not worth contacting them now. When they started knocking the area down, the shop moved to the Queen Victoria Road end of the City Arcade. They were definitely there by 1967 because I remember buying a load of stuff from them to build a tape recorder. Incidently I bought the tape deck through GEC Spon Street while working there that summer, at trade price. Nice one. Thinking of the City Arcade, it was quite a snazzy place in the 1960s, rather different from how it is today. At the other end of the Arcade near Shelton Square there was a Hi-Fi shop (can't remember the name) but I bought a Leak FM Tuner and Quad Preamp from them in the mid 1960s and later a Leak speaker in the sale. Still have all three, working. Cheers, Hugh

Wasn't Electronic Services run by the Barton brothers. I spent many a happy hour with them while they found me equivalents for odd transistors and just chatting generally about electrionics. When they retired and sold the shop it carried on for a while but it was never quite the same and also the market had moved from building your own to buing ready built. I seem to also remember another small electronics shop in the High Street. It probably closed mid-70s and I think it was what later became the Wedge.

Was that not Dixons, I think they moved from the corner where Waterstones shop is now by the fountain to where Tesco express is now, on that corner?