General Chat

We had one in Tunstall Staffordshire used to shop there before started work in Hanley real ham and bacon not pre injected with water and frozen then defrosted and sold as fresh like some you can buy now Val

Anne.....Gateway took over Fine Fare then Somerfield took Gateway..I think.

As well as greenshield stamps my dad was a driver and we collected all the football coins from shell. Not sure which year that was but suspect it may have coincided with 1966. Wish I had them now as I am sure they would do well on e-bay. GLoria

Yes i do and we use to but the broken biscuits by the pound and that was a treat, showing my age now, Lil

Wouldn't it be lovely to turn the clock back? ;-))

We had Home & Colonial in Hayes Middlesex & I remember all the things mentioned. I used to work on the checkout of Fine Fare in Southall Broadway & after I had my second child part time at the shop in Hayes. It later changed name to Shoppers Paradise & then just went the way of all flesh. It was owned by Canadian Garfield Weston who also owned a huge bread making company whose name escapes me. Vivienne

Oh yes, I had forgotten mcFisheries, wonderful fresh fish. Life is so much more bland these days. Last Wednesday we visited Tavistock, the only 'department'' store was a smallish Woolworths. There was a Dorothy Perkins, a New look, a W H Smith and a Mmackays, those were the only chain stores The remainder of the shops were all small individual stores and there was a wonderful indoor markey (the Pannier market), we had a lovely time browsing. Ann Glos

Viv and Ann I remember MacFisheries and Fine Fare so many small shops have gone, haven't they? ;-))

Jess, it was so much more fun collecting the stamps than these infernal loyalty cards don't you think? Dee ;-))

I'd forgotten about Mr Cripps the baker. He came round every monday, wednesday and friday, when he came round to the back door and collected the money. What ever we did with ''2 cut loaves -and-a danish-'' 3 times a week I'll never imagine. I guess we ate a lot of bread! Jess x

International, Home and Colonial, David greggs were all in Portsmouth and later so was Liptons. Somefields have not been taken over, they still exist. Waitrose took over Gateways, Morrisons took over Safeways. Who took over Fine Fayre (anyone remember them?) Ann Glos

On the same theme...remember Mac Fisheries and Mac market? Viv

Donna – don’t know the answer to that one, sorry Jackie, the shop you describe sounds fascinating, wonder if they will re introduce them over here sometime? I don’t remember milk being delivered that way, but my Mum had a baker deliver fresh bread when I was young, scrummy ;-))

when i was a little girl i remember my mum sending me to the corner shop for a 1lb of broken biscuits. she would send me on a saturday coz my my uncle and cousins were coming for sunday tea. she would serve bread and butter (echo margerine YUK!) and greengage jam, broken biscuits and home made rock cakes! the thought of them happy sunday's bring absolute fear my throat! (its the greengage jam!)

a little off topic lots of places gave out Green shield stamps- Tesco and the local petrol station that i specifically remember. they were green, obviously, whereas Co-op were turquoise blue

I remember International....I used to like their stuff. We had a David Greggs in Hitchin, they used to sell provisions...butter, cheese, meats etc.... Viv

Hi Dee If my memory serves me right there was a Home and Colonial Store in Bradford years and years and years ago lol. We had a Co-Op also that sold broken biscuits a penny a bag. It had sawdust on the floor and they sold all your sugar, flour etc loose in great big sacks. Funnily enough there is a Italian shop in Perth that still does the same thing. I go and get all my dried fruit from there as it is much cheaper. Like you say a little bit of dirt never hurt anyone. I save big dollars by going there. I love the smells. They have pepper, chilli, and all the lovely spice smells, also sell my coffee beans loose. I like to grind my own coffee, hate instant stuff. I also remember when our milk man delivered milk with a horse and cart and you took a jug out to him and he would ladle the milk out of a big churn. Boy I am getting old. Regards Jackie

Somerfield took over Kwik Save, but who took over Somerfield?

June Safeways is now Morrisons, caused a lot of trouble here in Kent did that takeover ;-))

Bill, I remember now that you have said. Am I wrong or have Safeways been taken over now? June xx