Take a trip down memory lane, and into a shop doorway, with us
Oh we do love a Proper Department Store. They' come into their own in winter. First the excitement of the lights and the window dressings in Advent. Who remembers being taken ‘up town’ to see the lights in Selfridge’s or Harrods? And then the bustle of the January sales as every elbow in the vicinity is sharpened to a lethal point and spectacles cleaned in preparation for stalking the aisles like a ninja. (Albeit a ninja hoping for an electric cake mixer on special offer or a nice well-priced set of Egyptian cotton sheets).
With the arrival of the internet and many Black Fridays, a little of that magic has been lost. But we still love a day out in a department store. The thrill that you can find absolutely anything you want under one roof - as Harrods famously claimed - “from a pin to an elephant”. And posh, heavy doors, and dizzying escalators, and staff who treat you as though you’re in a five-star hotel. Oh and the cafes… they were an outing in themselves!
In our January issue, on sale now, we’ve done a retrospective in our Looking Back slot of the Golden Age of department stores. And we want to know all about yours. The big ones, yes (who can resist a poke round Liberty’s of course?) but also the smaller ones in provincial towns that would mean nothing to someone from another county but which, for anyone who grew up where you did, the name conjures all sorts of happy memories.
We’re big fans of Jarrold’s in Norwich, which is still doing a roaring trade to this day. And several The Simple Thigs staff members still feel a pang of sadness as they walk past Allder’s of Croydon, just round the corner from Simple Things Towers. Once a glorious store that several of us visited as children for sales days or to meet Father Christmas, it’s now closed down and houses a slightly bewildering collection of small discount outlets. But still, there’s a little thrill to be had just pushing open those heavy doors in a lunch hour…
Tell us all about your most loved department stores below…
Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
