30 famous shops you'll remember if you grew up in Liverpool

The Littlewoods Building in Church Street, Liverpool, in 1999
-Credit: (Image: Liverpool ECHO)


Liverpool has long boasted incredible shops from much-loved independents to big brands that have dominated the high streets up and down the UK. With many providing a day out in their own right, these businesses in their heyday were among the most loved shops and department stores across our city.

But through time, we have said goodbye to a number of them - some which are only remembered by certain generations. Others have been rebranded or changed hands, while some only exist online today.

Over time, we've seen changes in shopping habits, with online shopping becoming so widely available. But that doesn't mean that we don't still reminisce about our favourite stores in the city, the ECHO previously reported.

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Here, we take another look back at just 30 loved and lost shops in Liverpool. Mainly featuring brands, local and otherwise from the city centre - these are bound to stir some memories.

This list isn't intended to be exhaustive and includes a number of businesses remembered across the generations. See how many you remember in our list below.

30. Watson Prickard

The original Watson Prickard store on North John Street in Liverpool in 1967
The original Watson Prickard store on North John Street in 1967 -Credit:Trinity Mirror

For over a century, the Watson Prickard department store welcomed generations to its city centre site. Founded in 1893 by A W Cockeram, many will remember that it occupied a huge building on North John Street.

It was the place many got their school uniforms from or their Sunday best clothes. On the building today, you can still see part of the Watson Prickard sign remains.

29. Horne brothers

Christmas lights of shimmering stars hang over Lord Street near the corner of Whitechapel, Liverpool. Horne's department store to the left. November 25, 1962
Christmas lights of shimmering stars hang over Lord Street near the corner of Whitechapel. Horne Brothers store to the left. November 25, 1962 -Credit:Mirrorpix

From the 1950s, Horne Brothers sold must-have clothing and accessories for men and boys. Located on the corner of Lord Street and Popular with shoppers across the city, it was extremely popular and also boasted a barbershop downstairs.

And in the early 1960s, the barbers gained global attention when the Beatles came in for a haircut. By 1985, the brand opened a new shop on Bold Street. McDonald's - who still call the site home - opened a branch in the premises that same year.

28. Philip Son and Nephew

Book shop, Philip Son and Nephew Ltd. Pictured, part of the children's book section on the first floor. Liverpool, Merseyside. March 1974
Bookshop, Philip Son and Nephew Ltd. March 1974 -Credit:Mirrorpix

The first Philip Son & Nephew shop was opened by Mr George Philip, originally from Aberdeenshire, in Paradise Street in 1834. From there the business went on to become one of the best known booksellers in the North and it is still fondly remembered today.

In December 1940, during the Second World War, the Church Street bookshop was razed to the ground by bombs and a few months later the business moved to 7 Whitechapel. By 1983, the store closed and on the former site, The Welkin in Whitechapel opened in 2002.

27. NEMS

NEMS (North End Music Stores) shop in Liverpool, owned by Beatles manager Brian Epstein. June 5, 1964
NEMS (North End Music Stores) shop in Liverpool, owned by Beatles manager Brian Epstein -Credit:Mirrorpix

In 1950, at the age of 16, future Beatles manager Brian Epstein worked at the family’s Walton Road store. At the age of 21, he was made a director of NEMS.

It was from there that he expanded the shop from selling pianos and wireless radios to gramophone records and it soon became one of the biggest music outlets in the north of England. NEMS, located at 12-14 Whitechapel, played a key role in the early days of The Beatles - where they signed their first management contract with Brian in his offices above the shop in 1962.

26. City Pets

City Pets in St Johns Precinct, Liverpool, April 9, 1970
City Pets in St Johns Precinct, 1970 -Credit:Mirrorpix

In its later life, City Pets was located in Roe Street in the city centre - and it was a weird and wonderful place to visit. Once one of the oldest pet shops in the country, it used to be a popular dumping ground for exotic animals from foreign shores.

Over time, the type of animals stocked changed - and the likes of baboons, parrots and puppies that were once sold from stalls outside the shop front were replaced by tropical fish, hamsters, rabbits and more. The pet shop relocated to St John's Precinct in the 1960s, but, after 129 years in business, City Pets closed its doors in 2001.

25. Jack Sharp

View showing the new frontage of the Jack Sharp sports store on Whitechapel, Liverpool. April 21, 1958
The new frontage of the Jack Sharp sports store on Whitechapel in April 1958 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Jack Sharp is a name still recognisable to Liverpudlians - not only because of his performances as a right winger for Everton FC, but through his eponymous sports shop in Whitechapel. The store opened in 1903, but through the decades many will remember visiting the shop to see what the latest sport trends were or to pick up essentials for your school P.E. kit.

Jack Sharp died in January 1938 at his Wavertree home, but the shop remained in the family. Once arguably the best sports store in the city, in the 1980s it was bought by JJB.

24. Gimbles

The exterior of Gimbles store in Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool. Febuary 4, 1976
The Gimbles store in Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool. February 4, 1976 -Credit:Trinity Mirror Copyright

Gimbles had its massive flagship store on the prestigious Sixth Avenue and 34th Street in Manhattan, New York. And in 1976, Gimbles opened in Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool.

Despite having been closed for a number of years, the New York store is famous as it served as the set where the much loved 2003 Christmas movie, Elf, was filmed. In 1977, the Liverpool store was threatened with closure after its owners were put in the hands of receivers, the ECHO previously reported and the company was wound up in 1979 .

23. Rapid Hardware

Rapid Hardware Store shop front on April 16, 1987
Rapid Hardware Store on April 16, 1987 in Liverpool city centre -Credit:Mirrorpix

Founded in 1971, Rapid Hardware gradually expanded across the length of Renshaw Street. The iconic family run department store soon became famous for its DIY, garden and home improvement products.

But after moving into the former George Henry Lee building in 2009, Rapid was hit hard by the recession. It fell into administration in February 2013 and the company reopened three months later in the same building under a different name, Rapid Discount Outlet. before closing in 2017.

22. Radio Rentals

Radio Rentals Electronics store in Liverpool. September 21, 1982
Radio Rentals store, Liverpool. September 21, 1982 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Radio Rentals led the way to offer domestic equipment rentals to thousands of households. It had sales and service locations across the UK, with the blue and white Radio Rentals logo being a common sight on many high streets - including Merseyside.

For older generations, it may have been their first glimpse of a colour TV. In 1997, Thorn announced it was closing 90 Radio Rentals stores nationwide in a drive to cut costs and soon Radio Rentals began to disappear from our high streets.

21. Blacklers

Blacklers Department Store seen here in the early 1980s Liverpool's answer to New Yorks Macy's occupies the corner of Elliot Street and Great Charlotte Street, Merseyside. Circa January 1982
Blacklers Department Store seen here in the early 1980s -Credit:Mirrorpix

Opened in 1908, Blacklers is perhaps one of Liverpool's most famous shopping names. One of the biggest department stores in the country, it employed almost 1,000 staff - including a young George Harrison.

It became famous for its Winter Wonderland Christmas grotto, the huge Father Christmas. But by 1988, Blacklers closed its doors for good and the site later became a branch of pub-chain Wetherspoons named The Richard John Blackler, as a nod to its origins.

20. C&A

Church Street, one of Liverpool's shopping areas. Church Street, October 3, 1984
C&A on Church Street. October 3, 1984 -Credit:Mirrorpix

C&A was founded in 1841 by German-Dutch brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, before it became a major presence throughout the UK. According to their website, Clemens and August’s ancestors had long been successful traders in northern Holland, leaving the family farm in 1671 to sell their wares as travelling linen merchants and it was in Mettingen in the 1830s that Clemens and August were apprenticed as little more than boys to learn their trade.

In Liverpool it had a store in Church Street, in what later became the Next store and now Decathlon. Department store chain C&A closed its UK stores in 2000 and 2001 though they are still a familiar fixture on the continent.

19. Owen Owen

Owen Owen Department Store, Liverpool, March 19, 1993
Owen Owen Department Store, Liverpool. March 19, 1993 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Founded by Welsh-born Owen Owen in 1868, this department store became an institution in Liverpool. The business later grew into a national chain and in 1924, Liverpool's Owen Owen chain moved from Audley House to Clayton Square into an impressive building on Parker Street.

Known for selling everything from furniture to clothes and crockery, the department store shut its doors in 1993. It later became a Tesco Metro and is now a Flannels store.

18. Blockbuster

Blockbuster store
Blockbuster disappeared from our high streets in 2013 -Credit:Birmingham Mail

Before DVDs and then streaming services like Disney+, Netflix and Apple TV - there was Blockbuster. In the 90s, video was king and many Merseyside families would head to their local branch to pick the perfect film for a night in.

The region had several Blockbuster branches. But by the end of 2013 all UK stores were closed.

17. Kwik Save

Kwik Save store in Liverpool
Kwik Save store in Liverpool -Credit:Trinity Mirror Copyright

Kwik Save opened its first store in Rhyl in 1959. The chain continued to expand, and by the mid-1990s, they had more than 800 stores spanning the country.

Many will remember Liverpool's most prominent Kwik Save store on Hanover Street in Liverpool city centre. The stores were primarily aimed at the lower end of the market and vanished from our high streets in the 00s.

16. Woolworths

The last day of trading for Woolworths.St Johns, Liverpool in 2009
The last day of trading for Woolworths, St Johns, Liverpool in 2009 -Credit:Trinity Mirror

The first Woolworths to open in the UK was actually established in Liverpool on Church Street. 'Woolies' as it became known was the epicentre of our high street visits

The 'pick n mix' was legendary and the store had so much variety. Sadly the Woolworths dream died in 2009 when the company entered administration in the UK.

15. Disney

Buzz Lightyear toys at the Disney Store on Christmas Eve, Liverpool, Merseyside. December 24, 1996
Buzz Lightyear toys at the Disney Store on Christmas Eve, Liverpool. December 24, 1996 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Back in 1989, Clayton Square first opened and became loved for many of its shops, including Disney. In the 1990s, Liverpool had one of the earliest UK Disney stores to open and products linked to the likes of Toy Story or 101 Dalmatians were proving to be a hit.

The store later relocated to Liverpool ONE when the shopping centre opened in 2008. But in October 2021, it was announced that Liverpool ONE's Disney Store was closing its doors for good.

14. Quiggins

Quiggins shopping market, School Lane premises, Liverpool
Quiggins shopping market, School Lane premises in Liverpool

If you were an alternative kid growing up in Liverpool in the 90s and 00s - then Quiggins will need no introduction. Its location on the corner of School Lane in the city centre was the meeting point for punks, goths, skaters, metalheads, ravers and anyone in between.

Filled with small independent businesses, Quiggins was much more than just a shopping destination. But sadly the shopping market closed its doors in 2006 and after it was reincarnated at Grand Central, that era of Quiggins also came to an end.

13. Virgin Megastore

Queues at Virgin Megastore to see Film Director Quentin Tarantino
Queues at Virgin Megastore to see film director Quentin Tarantino -Credit:Photo by Colin Lane

Many people of a certain age will have headed to the Virgin Megastore to buy their first CD, browse at the weekend with their friends or queue up to meet their favourite boyband. As a kid, you could spend the day scanning through the charts and seeing what your pocket money would get you.

Liverpool had a store in Clayton Square, which famously got a visit from Quentin Tarantino that saw fans queue for 12 hours. But by the late noughties, the Virgin Megastore chain went into administration before becoming Zavvi and closing all together.

12. Borders

Inside a Borders bookshop in Leicester, October 2002
Inside a Borders bookshop, circa 2002 -Credit:Leicester Mercury

Borders stocked thousands of titles and magazines, as well as cards, CDs, DVDs and more. The brand first opened in the UK in 1997 and was originally owned by the US book giant of the same name.

But by the early noughties, the bookshop phenomena had come to Merseyside and had sites in the surrounding areas, with branches in Warrington, Ellesmere Port and Speke Retail Park. By Christmas 2009, all Borders stores had closed, although a number of the bookshops still exist abroad.

11. BHS

BHS, Lord Street
BHS, Lord Street

British Home Stores was one of the dominant brands on Lord Street in the centre of Liverpool. Running for almost 100 years, it was loved by many generations in the region.

Many were sad when BHS closed its doors for the final time in 2016. There were around 160 BHS stores nationwide and a suitable buyer was not found for the department store chain after it went into administration.

10. Lewis's

Christmas Shoppers at Lewis Department Store, Liverpool. December 2, 1966
Christmas Shoppers in the Lewis Department Store, 1966 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Lewis's was based on the corner of Renshaw Street and Ranleigh Street - and from 1856 to 2010 it was the flagship store of the Lewis’s empire. The Grade II listed building was built to replace the previous store largely destroyed by the Luftwaffe's bombs during World War Two.

Many will remember its perfume counters, food halls and getting a photo at the festive grotto, which was a must visit for families every Christmas. Sadly, it closed in 2010 and the building is now home to a hotel on one of its floors and a Pure Gym.

9. Debenhams

The last day at Debenhams
The last day at Debenhams in Liverpool -Credit:Photo by Andrew Teebay

Debenhams is one of the more recent department stores we have said goodbye to in Liverpool. The huge high street retailer closed its doors at Liverpool ONE for the very last time on May 15, 2021, after the retail giant went into administration in April 2019.

Debenhams now operates online-only after being bought by Boohoo in January 2021. The purchase only included the Debenhams name and website, but not its physical stores. The Liverpool ONE store is now home to M&S.

8. George Henry Lee

The George Henry Lee sign comes down from the Church Street store in 2002 as the name changes to John Lewis
The George Henry Lee sign comes down from the Church Street store in 2002 as the name changed to John Lewis

The George Henry Lee department store had been a fixture in Liverpool for over 150-years. Started as a family business, it went on to become one of the most famous and fondly remembered stores in the city.

In 2002 the store was renamed John Lewis. But customers still knew it as George Henry Lee and that name only really disappeared when John Lewis moved to Liverpool ONE in 2008.

7. Littlewoods

Littlewoods Building in Church Street, Liverpool, 1999
Littlewoods Building in Church Street, Liverpool, 1999 -Credit:Liverpool ECHO

Despite its closure, Littlewoods remains one of the biggest names in Liverpool business history. Owner John Moores started the business in 1932, when he launched a mail order shopping business.

The first Littlewoods store officially opened in 1937 and it wasn’t until after WW2 that the company came to Church street. Now home to Primark, Littlewoods sold their remaining shops to the fast fashion retailer in 2005.

6. Wade Smith

Employees Chris Lee and Phil Armorgie outside Wade Smith, Slater Street, Liverpool
Employees Chris Lee and Phil Armorgie outside Wade Smith in Slater Street in Liverpool -Credit:Chris Lee

In its two decades of existence, Wade Smith shaped a distinctive Liverpool style. It was founded by Robert Wade Smith, who spotted a niche in the market while working as a footwear buyer for Topman.

The store launched in Slater Street in 1982. By 1989, the shop was an established name and had set up at a more elaborate premises on Mathew Street, but after changing hands with the Arcadia Group, Wade Smith eventually shut its doors in 2005.

5. Etam and Tammy Girl

Tammy Girl in the Shires
A former Tammy Girl shop -Credit:Linda Steelyard

If you grew up in Liverpool in the 90s - you’re bound to remember Tammy Girl. Popular with teens, Tammy Girl sold all the best clothing and accessories and was the place to shop before a special occasion, like a school disco.

Mums wanted to go to high street staple Etam while pre-teens and teenagers were always more interested in heading upstairs to the much-missed Tammy Girl. There was once a branch in Clayton Square.

4. Arcadia Group

Liverpool town centre on the first day of the sales, Boxing Day. 26th December 1993.
Liverpool town centre on the first day of the sales, Boxing Day. December 26, 1993 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Owned by Sir Philip Green, the Arcadia Group was a massive retail empire. It included brands such as Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Evans.

But the group fell into the hands of administrators in 2020 and the physical stores were no more. The failed brands were broken up, with ASOS going on to purchase Topshop, Miss Selfridge and the activewear brand HIIT and Boohoo taking on Burton, Wallis and Dorothy Perkins

3. Ethel Austin

An Ethel Austin store in Liverpool affected by the closure of the retail chain
An Ethel Austin store in Liverpool

Ethel Austin started in the front room of a Liverpool terrace house and went on to become a household name that eventually sold for £122m. It was started in 1934 by mother of three Ethel Austin and her husband George in Anfield.

After the recession hit in 2008, the company went into administration three times before the brand was bought again in 2012. In January 2013, the company declared insolvency and closed all of the remaining stores, effectively ending the Ethel Austin's brand after nearly 80-years, the ECHO previously reported.

2. Chelsea Girl

Hill Street Shopping Centre, Middlesbrough, November 19, 1982
Shoppers outside a lost Chelsea Girl chain in 1982 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Known and loved for its eye-popping colours, patterns and new age attitudes towards women's clothing, Chelsea Girl was a go-to place to shop at the weekend. It was the brainchild of English clothing retailer Bernard Lewis, who in the late 1940s opened up a string of fashion outlets called Lewis Separates.

By the 1960s, the business rebranded as Chelsea Girl to reflect the new wave of ladies' styles that were being conjured up by leading designers, such as Mary Quant. Chains soon popped up in cities across the UK, including Liverpool.

1. Dolcis

Dolcis Shoe Shop on Church Street in Liverpool in July 1989
Dolcis Shoe Shop on Church Street, Liverpool. July 1989 -Credit:Mirrorpix

Many people will remember heading to their local Dolcis to buy everything from their first pair of heels to must have school shoes. According to The National Archives, Dolcis was the idea of Mr John Upson who began trading from a barrow in Woolwich Market in 1836.

The firm specialised in ladies fashion footwear, although the men's market was also catered for. For years, it was loved in the city and beyond.