The Store (ex The Floor Store)

The Store (ex The Floor Store), 39 Tontine Street, Folkestone, Kent, 2017 • Once called The Floor Store, by simply removing a word it became an art project space (I […]

Tasty House

Tasty House, Bland House, 18 Vauxhall Street, Borough of Lambeth, London SE11, 2017 • Tasty House in Bland House – wonder if it was a deliberate joke? Another minimal sign, […]

TR (Food Store)

Food Store, 22 Vauxhall Street, Borough of Lambeth, London SE11, 2017 • Minimalist name with even more minimalist logo – I found out what the full name was by visiting […]

Noodle King

Noodle King, 36 Deptford Broadway, Borough of Greenwich, London SE8, 2002 • Noodling along with nice sign writing. No longer there.

H. Samuel (Manchester)

H. Samuel (Manchester), 7-7A upper Mall, Arndale Centre, High Street, Manchester, 2009 • Tiled 1970s bunker with missing letter – Manchester’s famous Arndale Centre, whose specially-commissioned beige ceramic facade was likened by Bill Bryson […]

Hotel Splendide

Hotel Splendide, 25 Mornington Crescent, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2003 • You couldn’t make this up. But in fact it was made up, because according to the Shady Old Lady […]

Allworthy Bros

Allworthy Bros, 13, 15 Camden High Street, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2003 • “Money advanced on pictures, bronzes, violins &c &c” says this wonderful old pawnbroker’s sign above a Dickensian-looking yard […]

Camera Care

Camera Care, 20 Hanway Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2005 • The number’s so old it’s got a burglar alarm stuck over it. Part of a hippyish enclave behind Oxford Street […]

Gulf Air

Gulf Air, 10 Albemarle Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2004 • Another ex-airline office dating from the pre-mega-bling era of Mayfair. By 2015 this one was a Paul Smith menswear shop.

Englishman’s Castle

Englishman’s Castle, 9-17 Church Street, Leatherhead, Surrey, 2003 • Purveyor of Surrey-style furnishings for over 50 years, and still there, albeit with updated logo.  There’s a vid of the interior […]

Rober L’Pool Ltd

Rober L’Pool Ltd, 14 Cleveland Square, Liverpool L1, 2003 • A neighbour of of Hollinshead & Walker, with mysterious truncated name. Became stylish dog grooming parlour Dog One.

Europleasure International Ltd

Europleasure International Ltd, 2-8 Duke Street, Liverpool L1, 2003 and 2013 • A name, like The Lux Company, that’s straight out of James Bond. This was derelict for ages, and looked much the […]

Bargain Booze

Bargain Booze, 22-24 Vauxhall Road, Liverpool L3, 2014 • Bargain booze, bargain sign.

The Puzzle, Connection Point, Silverberg Opticians

The Puzzle, Connection Point, Silverberg Opticians, 30 Whitechapel, Liverpool L1, […]

H. Coleman, Spy Shop, Richie Tattoo Artist, Max Spielmann

H. Coleman, Spy Shop, Richie Tattoo Artist, Max Spielmann, 24 […]

Las Vegas Amusements

Las Vegas Amusements, 2-12 Bolton Street, Liverpool L3, 2003 • Glamorous neon signage (despite faded coins) on a utilitarian unit next to Lime Street Station. Now a minimart.

Spencer’s Shoes

Spencer’s Shoes, 99 Peckham High Street, Peckham, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Wish I’d caught this 1960s throwback while it was still open. It’s now Bilex Money Transfer, and […]

Nitters Needs

Nitters Needs, 36-38 Station Road, West Croydon, Borough of Croydon, London CR0, 2010 • Great name, with an even older sign peeping out behind it; the derelict shop still looked […]

Nige’s Lunchbox and Groceries

Nige’s Lunchbox and Groceries, 32 Scale Lane, Kingston upon Hull, 2004 • A faded handwritten sign says: ‘Niges rugs + “carpets” no under lay though’, with a smaller note qualifying […]

Streatham Skinworks

Streatham Skinworks, 4 Bridge Parade, Streatham High Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW16, 2002 • From the days before tattooing became a hipster boom trade. Pity they didn’t use Profil font for the […]

G.J. Petts

G.J. Petts, 5 Westmoreland Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2001 • Unfortunate name for a butcher. Was still there in 2015, looking even more battered.

I. Paule Ltd

I. Paule Ltd, Merchant House, 24 Wentworth Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2004 • There are many layers of the name over this alleyway in the Petticoat Lane area. A comment on […]

Barry S Rivers Radio Television

Barry S Rivers Radio Television, 57 Cinque Ports Street, Rye, East Sussex, 2015 • RYE 3179 says the phone number, in my fave old shop font – Profil, aka Decorated 035. There […]

Lifestyle

Lifestyle, 19 South Street, Worthing, West Sussex, 2003 • South coast aspirations – I like the shaking hands. Now houses South Street Trading, a house clearance emporium (a thriving sector in […]

John Chawner

John Chawner, 36 Station Approach, Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, 2006 • Essence of sleepy southeast summer afternoon, featuring a clock mender whose own clock has simply given up. Google shows the shop as still […]

Lowestoft Army & Navy Stores

Lowestoft Army & Navy Stores, 183 London Road North, Lowestoft, Suffolk, 2007 • Lowestoft’s one of those places where practically every shop belongs on this blog. In 2007 this cloudy old clock […]

Softys

Softys, 68b Bridge Street, Bolton, Lancashire, 2010 • Its full name was once Softys’ Hard Stuff (sic), but part has fallen off – see the full sign on Flickr, taken in […]

Miller Morgan Electric Co Ltd

Miller Morgan Electric Co Ltd, 20 Regent Place, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, 2005 • Decoratively decaying disappeared engineer in same building as yesterday’s Thomas Newey, all smart offices now.

Thomas Fox & Co. Ltd., Arse Factory Removals

Thomas Fox & Co. Ltd., Arse Factory Removals, 42 Hoxton […]

Thompson

Thompson, 5 Gloucester Road, Avonmouth, Bristol, 2009 • Nice type on old ex-bike repair shop (aka Thomson Bros) in the Bristol boondocks. Now completely boarded up.

H. Samuel Everite Time clock (Cardiff)

H. Samuel Everite Time clock, Central Market, St Mary Street, Cardiff, Wales, 2012 • Now that’s what I call a clock, albeit handless and ‘everwrong’. It’s pictured earlier with hands here, […]

F.O.T.O.P. Friends of the Old People

F.O.T.O.P. Friends of the Old People, 4 Middle Street, Hastings, East Sussex, 2014 • Net-curtained cafe for the elderly. I thought it was closed down, but Google shows it later on […]

Sidney Charles

Sidney Charles, 36 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Modern world passing an old one by – destined soon to become a Chinese supermarket.

L.W. Haggis

L.W. Haggis, 171 Brighton Road, South Croydon, Borough of Croydon, London CR2, 2003 • What a brilliant name! Although it looks like someone chopped the bottom of their sign off. […]

Inglis and Roffey Opticians

Inglis and Roffey Opticians, 8 High Street, Crawley, West Sussex, 2002 • End days of a slightly funereal opticians. It got knocked down replaced by a big ugly block of […]

Kings & Queens

Kings & Queens, 300 Lewisham High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE13, 2010 • Not very palace-like. Now has a plain purple sign, with windows by Lycamobile.

Mann Countrywide

Mann Countrywide, 171 Lewisham High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE13, 2010 • Wishful thinking, but that oval looks like it could once have held a Boots sign.

Ford Specialist

Ford Specialist, 123 Fairfield Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E3, 2010 • Mmm, I must buy a Ford so I can take it there. (Checks Google Street View.) Blimey! It’s […]

Poundland (Peterborough)

Poundland (Peterborough), 6 Bridge Street, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, 2015 • Initially depressing, but this is an interesting building – maybe it was a flagship store for someone else once. Poundland are in the […]

HGV Apply Here

HGV Apply Here, 10 Church Street, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, 2015 • Mmm, professional. And the top windows just say “GV”.

A.Z. Halal. Butchers

A.Z. Halal. Butchers, 83 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Huge wavy pediment dwarfing a mini meat emporium.

Brute Menswear

Brute Menswear, 73 Wentworth Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2004 • Interesting choice of name, especially as the other side of the sign says Brute Menswar.

Dyer

Dyer, 32 North Street, Leatherhead, Surrey, 2003 • Photocopy centre and fax bureau – how quickly hi tech becomes quaint. Their website says Dyer was established 1916 and is now run […]

D.M. Sutton

D.M. Sutton, 58 High Street, Rottingdean, East Sussex, 2004 • Still a traditional butcher, but now called G.R. Rushman & Son.

Hern Saddlers

Hern Saddlers, 54 Middle Road, Brockham, Dorking, Surrey, 2005 • Maybe it originally said Southern Saddlers. It’s now a house with porch where the shopfront was.

Stoniers

Stoniers, Williamson Square, Liverpool, 2003 • Offering “a world of glass and china” no more, this famous Liverpool store once supplied crockery to the Titanic (and indeed the whole White Star Line, whose […]

Nicholas Printers (Baldwins)

Nicholas Printers (Baldwins), 481A Green Lanes, Borough of Haringey, London N8, 2014 • A multi-named palimpsest in colourful Green Lanes.

Fancy Fabric Stores

Fancy Fabric Stores, 109 Digbeth, Birmingham, 2005 • Finally from fascinating Digbeth, a glimpse of its more work-a-day side. This is still there, but they mended the sign.

G.W. & A.E. Thomson Ltd (Navals Jewellers)

G.W. & A.E. Thomson Ltd (Navals Jewellers), 228 Kilburn High […]

J.R. Hobson & Co The Drinking Glass Centre

J.R. Hobson & Co The Drinking Glass Centre, Nursery Street, […]

Arkle Pharmacy

Arkle Pharmacy, 39 Junction Road, Archway, Borough of Islington, London N19, 2003 • A good old-fashioned name and address next door to yesterday’s De Marco. Now just called Pharmacy (incorporating […]

Ladywell Supermarket

Ladywell Supermarket, 111 Ladywell Road, Borough of Lewisham, London SE13, 2011 • The ladies of Ladywell, patronising a rather tatty shop in a fadedly genteel area. The mosaic pillars may indicate […]

Maestro Records, Mobiles Phone

Maestro Records, Mobiles Phone, 61 Rye Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Poignant collision of old and new tech divided by a fat conductor, in a typically ruinous […]

Eric’s (Emm’s)

Eric’s (Emm’s), 107 Leppings Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 2010 • Strange mixture of old and new(ish) near Sheffield Wednesday’s football ground. Google street view shows a bunch of people sitting outside.

Criterion Restaurant

Criterion Restaurant, 129 Peckham High Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • No T outside, but plenty within, for this handsomely shabby caff with a fine old-fashioned name.  

Tee’s Diner

Tee’s Diner, Port Clarence Road, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, 2013 • Derelict diner lent drama by Middlesbrough’s magnificent transporter bridge, which looms above it.  

F.L. Pettman Ltd. Depository

F.L. Pettman Ltd. Depository, 52 Athelstan Road, Margate, Kent, 2014 • Now for a week of finds from Margate, a once-wealthy town which still has many interesting buildings, such as this grand […]

Paradise Travel

Paradise Travel, circa 1 Brunswick Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, 2010 • Not likely to trouble Expedia – which was no doubt a part of its downfall.

Frederick Pratt & Son

Frederick Pratt & Son, 32 Brighton Road, Salfords, Redhill, Surrey, 2002 • Good old-fashioned name, but now even the car in front is knackered. Founded 1948 and shuttered 2003, it used […]

Floor Cover (Chicken Cottage)

‘Floor Cover’ ghost sign, Chicken Cottage, 177-179 Rye Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Presumably a larger sign was pulled away complete with plaster, revealing the ghost sign beneath […]

Venus Pizza

Venus Pizza, 149 Whitecross Street, Borough of Islington, London EC1, 2008 • Those Roman gods certainly live on, longer than this takeaway at least. This colourful old bit of  road got […]

C Master, Cumsers (Cutmasters)

CMaster, Cumsers (Cutmasters), 202-204 Merton High Street, Borough of Merton, London SW19, 2010 • Bizarre signage which almost looks like a rude joke. They’ve now got a “proper” sign but the […]

Rank Hovis Clarence Mill

Rank Hovis Clarence Mill, Clarence Street, Hull, 2013 • And this is the reason I went to Hull – to catch this monolith before it gets knocked down, which is due […]

Albert Hall (The Fair & Square Club)

Albert Hall (The Fair & Square Club), 12 Midland Road, Kingston upon Hull, 2013 • Practically opposite yesterday’s stunning Tower, another fun palace in far worse condition – a Victorian music […]

Ex-Boots (Hull)

Ex-Boots, Hull, East Yorkshire, 2005 • Positively my final Boots for now, once again proving the brilliant recognisability of its longstanding logo (designed by Jesse Boot in 1883) – even when […]

Boots (Oxford Street)

Boots (Oxford Street), 151 (I think) Oxford Street, London W1, City of Westminster, 2002 • Sorry to harp on about Boots, but this wouldn’t have happened with their old-school stone signs […]

M Yman Ho Repair (ex-Suleyman Shoe Repair)

M Yman Ho Repair (ex- Suleyman Shoe repair shop), 162 Chatsworth Road, Borough of Hackney, London E5, 2011 • Looks like an art installation but it’s the real deal – apparently […]

Little Mo Ca

Little Mo Ca, 219 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Known in full as Little Mo’s Cafe, this features in the rather wonderful website The London Review of […]

Ionic

Ionic, 612 Finchley Road, Borough of Barnet, London NW11, 2003 • A 1975 replacement for the original 1913 Ionic (great name!), which got crammed into a corner of the Sainsbury’s that […]

James Smith & Sons

James Smith & Sons, Hazelwood House, 53 New Oxford St, London WC1, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2011 • A new Year’s present of London’s most famous old shop, an impossibly […]

Christmas Bargain Store (Dewhurst)

Christmas Bargain Store (Dewhurst), 135 High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • Ah, the grim pursuit of festive cheer. Everyone looks fed up. The baby’s bum is hanging out. The D of […]

Clerkenwell Screws

Clerkenwell Screws, 109 Clerkenwell Rd, Borough of Camden, London EC1, 2004 • Another esteemed purveyor of screws, unchanged to this day (including the scrubbed-out lettering).

£1,000,000 Bankrupt Stock

£1,000,000 Bankrupt Stock, circa 16 Richmond Street, Liverpool L1, 2003 • Really? There’s a million quid’s worth of watches, shirts and slippers in there?

Digbeth Cold Storage

Digbeth Cold Storage, 123-135 Digbeth, Birmingham, West Midlands, 2005 • One of many magnificent old Digbeth buildings, this leviathan was built in 1899 to serve the local markets. It’s grade 2 listed […]

Videovent Ltd.

Videovent Ltd., 124 Essex Road, Borough of Isligton, London N1, 2002 • To the right of yesterday’s Wools was this sad example of the decline of camera shops; it’s now a […]

Barbican Grill

Barbican Grill, 117 Whitecross Street, Borough of Islington, London EC1, 2002 • Classic cafe from Barbican’s proletarian past, now a posh grey office of some sort.

Petre

Petre, 5 Poole Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, 2004 • I think this strangely-named shop – in an enclave of tattered buildings housing small businesses both living and dead – may have been a […]

Clapham School of Motoring

Clapham School of Motoring, 6 Clapham High Street, Clapham North, Borough of Lambeth, London SW4, 2002 • Confidence-inspiring driving school, handily sited next to a pub. For some reason it didn’t […]

H. Samuel (Manchester)

H. Samuel, 7-7A upper Mall, Arndale Centre, High Street, Manchester, 2009 • Tiled 1970s bunker with missing letter – a stirring brutalist sight. The U was still missing three years later; […]

Hing Loong

Hing Loong, 59 Tower Bridge Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • Faded takeaway with semi re-inked letters; it’s still there, with new sign.

Imperial Wine Stores

Imperial Wine Stores, Watneys, 178 Lambeth Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2012 • Still there, an old-fashioned sign on an old-fashioned corner where the classic 1950s comedy Passport To Pimlico […]

Moderne Buckles Ltd

Moderne Buckles Ltd, 123 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2005 • Dodgy shooters meet leather goods in a traditional East End mix. The listed Shoreditch warehouse […]

Ber

Ber (part-demolished shop), circa 227 High Street, Stratford, Borough of Newham, London E15, 2006 • An ex-timber merchant? Now gone, along with the neighbouring warehouse and pub, on a corner totally […]

J.W. Ould

J.W. Ould, 35 Herbert Road, Plumstead, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Three layers of old signage here, though I can’t find out the full name. Later became Belleza Hair […]

Pier Road Snack Bar

Pier Road Snack Bar, Pier Road, North Woolwich, Borough of Newham, London E16, 2005 • Blimey, they put the road sign on the cafe sign! Interesting workmanship.

London Rd Cafe and Snack B

London Rd Cafe and Snack B, 170 London Road, Norbiton, Surrey, 2002 • Cheery but name-truncated eaterie which was demolished along with the Donald Judd-style shop posted yesterday. Note how sign […]

T.V.s Are “Us”

T.V.s Are “Us”, 54 Streatham Hill, Borough of Lambeth, London SW2, 2001 • Yeah, I’d definitely buy my quality ex-rental TV here. Nice car!

W.G. Sullivan Bespoke Tailor

W.G. Sullivan Bespoke Tailor, 181 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 • First the letters fell off, as they tend to in Caledonian Road; and then it […]

William Amusement Burger Bar

William Amusement Burger Bar, 26 Station Road, Horley, Surrey, 2002 • Channelling the groovy Wimpy vibe. By  2012 was called The New Cafe, with the same net in the door, and […]

Charles A

Charles A, David Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow G40, Scotland, 2012 • Superannuated sawtooth-roofed works unit with sawn-off name, now part of a tool hire establishment.

Gardner & Finch

Gardner & Finch, 70 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2012 • Quali y Butch r – a classic old  frontage at the letters-falling-off stage. By 2017 it still looked […]

A. & I. Lask

A. &  I. Lask, 60a Brixton Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2001 • From a stretch of road that was home to loads of ancient-looking shops, now nearly all gone.

C&A (Oxford Street)

C&A, 200-211 Oxford Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2001 • Dubbed “Cheap & Awful”, it quit the UK in 2000 but is still big in Europe. This ex-store now houses […]

W.E. Savage & Son

W.E. Savage & Son, 72 Wilmot Street, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • By 2012 this was still there, decaying away near the memorably-named Lara Croft Way.

Blackwall Aggregates Limited

Blackwall Aggregates Limited, 295-303 Tunnel Avenue, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2005 • Classic view of Canary Wharf from behind O2 (the ex-Millennium Dome); nowadays this yard is a neatly […]

Alum Food Store

Alum Food Store, 100 Harper Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2001 • Splendid hand-made sign, though possibly misspelt as the name changed to Alom when they got a “proper” one.

Frake’s Ltd Mace

Frake’s Ltd Mace, 51 Leather Lane, Borough of Camden, London EC1, 2001 & 2013 (bottom) • There’s something so quintessentially 1950s about this Mace sign. By 2013 all the black letters […]

J.A. The Kitchen & Bathroom Centre

J.A. The Kitchen & Bathroom Centre, circa 11 Leigh Hill, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, 2007 • I love the classic slab-serif lettering on this fascia, which eventually all disappeared leaving just shadows.

Burnards (B.J. Warrell)

Burnards (B.J. Warrell), 38 Brixton Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2001 • This beautiful palimpsest probably remains beneath the huge blue fascia of later occupant Ever Fresh Food & […]

Christmas War

Christmas War, Queens Square, Crawley, West Sussex, April 2002 • Christmas War, still battling on in April in Crawley’s bunker-like mall (the height of modernity when I was a child).