Author Archives: buildingourpast

Main Street and High Street in Tinted Postcards of the 1930s and 40s

Posted on February 6, 2016 by buildingourpast

In the 1940s, the American variety retailers F. W. Woolworth & Co and S.S. Kresge stocked ‘linen’ postcards of their downtown stores. Most of these cards were ordered by individual store managers from the sales agents of the Curt Teich … Continue reading →

Posted in Streetscape, Woolworths | 1 Comment

C&A Modes Part IV: The Last Decades

Posted on January 18, 2016 by buildingourpast

Like many other multiple retailers, C&A increasingly leased units in large-scale commercial developments during the 1960s and 1970s. Branches opened in the Lower Precinct in Coventry (1965), the Merseyway Centre in Stockport (1968), the Arndale Centre in Doncaster (1969), Drake Circus in … Continue reading →

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C&A Modes Part III: War and its Aftermath

Posted on January 14, 2016 by buildingourpast

Five of C&A’s UK stores were destroyed by bombing: Oxford Street (‘Bird Street’), Southampton, Sheffield, Portsmouth and Birmingham. A higher proportion of the company’s German stores was lost, with just two out of 17 stores surviving. Replacing the stores on home … Continue reading →

Posted in C&A Modes | 1 Comment

Eating Out at Woolworth’s

Posted on January 7, 2016 by buildingourpast

F. W. Woolworth & Co Ltd established a new tradition when the Liverpool store (Store 1) opened in November 1909, by including a first-floor tea room with windows overlooking Church Street. Behind the scenes lay a kitchen and a ‘waiting … Continue reading →

Posted in Woolworths | 3 Comments

C&A Modes Part II: Toying with a House Style

Posted on January 3, 2016 by buildingourpast

The first completely new store to be designed by North, Robin & Wilsdon for C&A occupied a corner site on Oldham Street in Manchester (1928). This was faced in cream-coloured faience (glazed terracotta) and adopted a simplified classicism with art … Continue reading →

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C&A Modes Part I: Getting Established

Posted on January 3, 2016 by buildingourpast

Despite adding a bright splash of primary colour to British high streets, with its rainbow logo and blue/red oval badge, C&A gained a reputation for selling rather dowdy clothes. An association with cheap polyester haunted the company from the 1970s, … Continue reading →

Posted in C&A Modes | 4 Comments