Category Archives: Shop Stories

Debunking ‘Britain’s First Supermarket’: The Myth of Manor Park

Posted on January 16, 2023 by buildingourpast

On 12 January 2023 social media was awash with blogs and posts – including ones published by respected bodies like the British Library and Historic England – celebrating the opening of ‘the first British supermarket’ on 12 January 1948 at … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-operative Stores, Grocers, Provision Dealers and Dairies, Self-Service Shopping, Shop Stories | 6 Comments

Kays Modern Food Stores

Posted on April 20, 2022 by buildingourpast

Kays’ shop at 3 High Street, Ely, is a surviving remnant of a grocery chain that had over 100 small branches throughout much of South-East England and the Midlands in the middle of the 20th century, before the age of … Continue reading →

Posted in Grocers, Provision Dealers and Dairies, Shop Stories | 3 Comments

Grouts of Palmers Green

Posted on August 18, 2021 by buildingourpast

Grouts, one of the last old-fashioned drapery shops in England, shut its doors for the last time on 20 April 2002. The photographs published here were snapped on the previous day, Friday 19 April 2002. Little stock remained but customers … Continue reading →

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The Coliseum in Stockton-on-Tees: Unpicking W. Basil Scott’s ‘First English Steel-Framed Building’

Posted on May 23, 2021 by buildingourpast

Today it is generally accepted that James Frank Doyle’s Royal Insurance Building in Liverpool was the first significant steel-framed building to be erected in the UK. Although it was designed around 1895-96, it was not erected until 1900-03. The Scottish … Continue reading →

Posted in Department Stores, Shop Stories | 2 Comments