WHOOHOO! We are going shopping! Ive got 8/- saved up & my Nana gave me a half a crown yesterday...Im going to blow the lot on Matchbox cars, a Green Lantern 80 page special, Thunderbirds sweet cigarettes & a whole load of Black Jacks....cannot wait! Right im dressed & smart (but not cool!), my crew cut is combed through with Vitalis & my Mam has done that thing with spit & a hanky.....Mams looking for her purse now, but finally we are out the door & heading for the bus stop & the Cumberland Bus to town...
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MMMMM! DO YOU LIKE SWEETS WITH BLACK BITS? MAYBE YELLOW & PINK COCONUT...BLUE HUNDREDS & THOUSANDS?...MMMM! THANKS BERTIE.......
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........................................................................................................Mams telling me she'll get me some luncheon meat & Birds Instant Whip for tea, I am almost delirious with joy! As we near the bus shelter....CATASTROPHE!!!! THE BUS GOES SAILING PAST! WEVE MISSED IT! & MISSED SHOPPING FOR ITS HALF DAY CLOSING IN TOWN! NOOOOO!!!
boriiiiing! can we go to the cake shop next mother?
Of course, we went shopping again another day & all those treats were finally mine!
Anyway, I hope you're not all thinking that shopping ( in my opinion ) was much better in those golden childhood days...GOD NO WAY! Didnt you get the allegory? As well as the dreaded half day closing, most shops were closed by 5.30, shut on sunday, national chains were pretty dull & independent shops sold only one type of product so you were obliged to trek around town for ages! Also changing rooms were not that common ( Marks & Spencer!!!!!) so you had to take home your purchase to try it on, or use a draughty, smelly toilet cubicle....dear me! That put me off clothes shopping for the rest of my life!
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WHAT? IT STANDS FOR 'COATS & 'ATS' ????
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2012...Shopping isnt really in great shape, chains going out of business, vacant high street shops, the same types of merchandise ranges....no real risk taking & online shopping getting some of the blame...
Although Im interested in shopping as social history, the thought of going shopping makes me feel sick!
SHOPPING I DO LIKE :
Charity shops
2nd hand bookshops
M&S Foods
Flea markets
Delicatessen
Jumble sales
Amazon
Drunken shopping (well ok just merry!)
National Trust plant sales (God Im getting old!)
Comic fairs
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SHOPPING I DONT LIKE:
Clothes shops
Electrical goods
M&S Everything else (other than food)
Market makeovers
Self-conscious delicatessen
Bad jumble sales
E-bay
Phone shops
National Trust gift shops
Saturday shopping
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errrr....like, no you havent.............
So shopping is different things to different people....I think in the future chain stores will come & go with greater regularity & will never achieve the customer loyalty they had in the past, shopping areas will shrink.
Some towns may well lose their central shopping district like many communities in America. There will always be a place for the well run & imagination grabbing independent shops, & duh! online shopping will rise & rise...maybe an internet / high street hybrid shop will emerge... & CLIPCANTEEN will do a few more shopping posts for your enjoyment!
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LOST SHOPPING NAMES
As a kid, all the major retailers had a very different own brand name...why?
Were they ashamed of their original names? Do you remember any of these?
WOOLWORTHS - WINFIELD
BRITISH HOME STORES - PROVA
MARKS & SPENCER - ST.MICHAEL
LITTLEWOODS - KEYNOTE
ASDA - ASDALE
CO-OP - WHEATSHEAF
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