Barratt

Barratt House, 45 Lord Street, Liverpool L1, 2003 • I can’t find any history on this – but apparently it refers to Barratts shoes (not Barratt the builders. Whatever its origins, it still exists, unlike Cousins […]

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 […]

Faith

Faith, 192-194 Oxford Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2001 • Now for a few posts on the subject of faith. This conjunction of signs caught my eye every time […]

PriceLess Shoes

PriceLess Shoes, 45 Tooting High Street, Tooting, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW17, 2006 • Budget shoe chain with socking great logo, which I always liked for its basic brashness. It […]

R. Soles

R. Soles, 109a Kings Road, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW3, 2003 • Punning purveyor of cowboy boots to the already well-heeled, founded in 1975. 

Shoe Repairs and Things

Shoe Repairs and Things, 151 Kings Road, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London SW3, 2003 • Despite the vast wealth that surrounds it, there are still some funny old things surviving on the […]

Ravel (Oxford Street)

Ravel, 184-188 Oxford Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2001 • Remember Ravel shoe shops? Once ubiquitous, the 50-store chain closed down in 2007 after five years of losses. Founded in […]

Margaretta Rickards (Arthouse Deli)

Margaretta Rickards (Arthouse Deli), 46 Topsfield Parade, Tottenham Lane, Crouch End, Borough of Haringey, London N8, 2014 • I thought this was a gallery when I photographed it, but it’s […]

R & L Radio Ltd, Shoe Factors

R & L Radio Ltd, Shoe Factors, 30, 28 Kingsland Road, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2002 • An old TV shop which has fallen victim to the well-known graffiti artist […]

Shoes & Matching Handbags

Shoes & Matching Handbags, 87-91 Hackney Road, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2006 • Another colourfully-graffitied “han bag” emporium near to yesterday’s. This was knocked down and replaced by new flats, which now […]

Blunts

Blunts, 8-9 West Castle Atreet, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, 2014 • Unmissable old shoe shop, reinvented for the eBay generation.

Hawkes

Hawkes, 99b High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • High quality 1960s frontage, complete with a tiled hawk sign on the floor (just visible) and some French onions outside. Once the largest […]

Easiephit Footwear (Wherry)

“Easiephit” Footwear (Wherry Estate Agents), 115 High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, 2007 • Great mosaic ghost sign step with a boring estate agent attached. I assume it was once a shoe shop.

Wainwright & Sons (Risborough) Ltd.

Wainwright & Sons (Risborough) Ltd., 69 High Street, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, 2007 • Formerly Grover, according to the doorstep, and in its last days here. Google Street View showes it vacant […]

Billo Shoes

Billo Shoes, 598 Kingsland High Street, Borough of Hackney, London E8, 2002 • Later moved down the road to no. 294, but still has the same beautiful hippy-font sign.

Shoefayre

Shoefayre, 129-131 Borough High Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2013 • Was hidden by decaying scaffolding for over a decade until being revealed again in a street “smartening” for […]

Blessing & Success Fashions, Fleet Systems MOT, Island Buka

Blessing & Success Fashions, Fleet Systems MOT, Island Buka, 25 […]