New plans are on the way for the site of Sheffield’s lost Rare & Racy shop – still standing five years after controversial demolition was approved

Rare & Racy, which opened in 1969 and sold second-hand books, music and art for almost 50 years, was among the businesses forced to close after the council gave the go-ahead in March 2015 to knock down and replace three buildings at the top of Devonshire Street.

The proposal sparked an impassioned protest that drew national attention. A petition was signed by thousands and there were demonstrations outside the Town Hall, while Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker said Rare & Racy was a ‘global treasure’ that it would be a ‘crime to destroy’, likening its loss to the legend that claims Britain will fall if ravens leave the Tower of London.

The bookshop, run by co-owner Allen Capes, shut for good in 2017 when its lease expired, and the shops either side moved elsewhere.

However, as of May 2020 no progress has been made on the approved development, which involved demolishing the premises and putting up a new retail unit, a restaurant and flats.

Primesite UK, the Sheffield-based firm behind the scheme, still owns the buildings and land on Devonshire Street. The company says it wants to press ahead with a development – but any project would need fresh planning permission, as the consent from 2015 has expired.

“The initial proposal for the site did not come forward as Primesite had a number of developments at the time and others took priority,” said Adam Murray, managing director of Primesite UK’s agent Urbana Town Planning.

“It is still fully the intention of Primesite to develop this site and new proposals are being drawn up right now. We believe these are of better design quality than those previously approved and will look to reinvigorate this part of the city centre.

“We expect to be submitting an application on this site in the coming months.”

The council faced enormous pressure to reject the original scheme, on the grounds that part of Sheffield’s heritage would be lost. In 2015 Leigh Bramall, then the authority’s cabinet member for business, skills and development, said councillors’ hands were tied by ‘stringent planning laws’.

“If we did not follow these laws we would be putting the council under a big risk of being taken to an appeal by the developer, to be heard by the National Planning Inspectorate, which would mean that the council would be overruled and the development go ahead, but with the council facing huge legal bills.”

Howard Greaves, chairman of the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society, said this week that the substantial delay meant Rare & Racy could have stayed open for longer.

“They had a very good business which was closed prematurely and unnecessarily," he said.

“It would be nice to think that the terrace has had a reprieve and it could and should be restored to its former glory. It does after all date back to the 1830s.”

But he warned against replacing the Devonshire Street buildings with more shops, given the hammer blow delivered to retail by the coronavirus crisis.

“The situation has now changed yet again and I don't think people will be queuing to build shops as I think Covid will be the final nail in the coffin for the High Street. It was tottering before because of the Internet and this might just tip it over the precipice.”

Rare & Racy was established by Allen’s brother, John Capes, who later left to set up an online firm. Allen and his business partner Joe Mhlongo, who by the time of the closure was not involved on a day-to-day basis, wanted to keep the shop going for as long as possible.

A packed, ramshackle treasure trove of pre-owned volumes, prints and records from the more outré end of the musical spectrum, the shop shut in July 2017 following a final sale.

“At the time, when these places were set up, they were called alternative businesses - an alternative book and record shop for hippies,” Allen said as the end approached.

“It’s much more individual than most shops, it’s got extra character. There’s an interest, rather than just looking to buy something.

“We’ve generated more love than money. You can’t have both, but definitely the love’s worth more than the money. Some people have been customers and become friends - and some are sons and daughters of the people who started coming here.”

A first edition of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species, annotated by a fellow zoologist, was the most notable item Allen sold.

“My brother picked it up on a market stall in Doncaster,” he said. “I think we got £750 for that in the mid-80s. John definitely didn’t buy it for £750. It’d be worth £170,000 now at least.”

Rare & Racy’s neighbours found new homes. The Natural Bed Company took up another showroom on nearby Fitzwilliam Street, the Rag Parade clothes shop relocated to become JoJo’s General Store on Ecclesall Road, and fashion boutique Syd and Mallory’s Emporium shifted further along on Devonshire Street where it remains today.

“It’s really important to keep the shops on Devonshire Street independent,” said Kirsteen Hardie of Syd and Mallory’s in 2016. “That’s why people come here. We want to try and keep it as it is meant to be.”

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