Wilkos is slowly returning to the UK’s high streets just months after the retailer’s demise, and now Woolworths could be making a comeback.
The firm’s German CEO Roman Heini has said that restoring the shops, famed for their pick and mix sweets, to British high streets 15 years after they disappeared is on his ‘bucket list’ as he leads a European expansion.
With that in mind, we’re taking a look back at some of the popular stores which have disappeared from streets across Sheffield, including Woolworths, which had branches on The Moor and in Hillsborough.
Our retro photo gallery of Sheffield’s lost shops ranges from the more recently disappeared like Debenhams and John Lewis to Redgates at the top of The Moor, the fondly remembered toy shop which was like a magical world for generations of children, and further back to department stores like Banners and Walsh’s.
How many of these old shops do you remember, and which would you most like to see make a comeback?
1. Redgates
Television presenter Leslie Crowther, of Crackerjack fame, pictured at Redgates toy store in Sheffield, surrounded by a crowd of smiling youngsters, on November 22, 1975 Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
2. Banners
When Attercliffe was a thriving shopping district of Sheffield, Banners department store was the jewel in the crown. People fondly remember the wooden escalators, the tube system used to send money around the store and the little coins you could only spend in Banners Photo: JPI
3. Mothercare
Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre in Barker's Pool, Sheffield, due for closure in January 2017 Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
4. Brightside & Carbrook Co-op Store
The famous spiral staircase in the Brightside & Carbrook Co-op Store, at Castle House, Sheffield, in 1964. It's now part of trendy foodhall Kommune Photo: Sheffield Newspapers