Memel Shop
Memel Shop, 40 Dover Road, Folkestone, Kent, 2017 • I have no idea what a Memel shop is, but here is one. The definitions on Wikipedia don’t offer any clues […]
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, […]
Swiftys of Vauxhall
Swiftys of Vauxhall, 44-46 Wilcox Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW8, 2004 • Traditional fishing tackle shop a stone’s throw from the Thames. Disappeared in 2008 and is now London […]
Enid’s Fish Bar
Enid’s Fish Bar, 181 North Street, Bristol BS3, 2017 • What a great name!
Round Windows
Round Windows, 205 Hackney Road, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2006 • Quirky urban dereliction, which was maybe an art studio. By 2018 it was a grey smart unit, with […]
Leopold Cameras
Leopold Cameras, 17 Tavistock Place, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2002 • Final closure for an evocatively named old photographic shop. By 2018 it was King of Falafel.
Froude and Hext
Froude and Hext, 83 Victoria Road, Swindon SN1, 2017 • Wonderful name for what was a much-loved model shop. It relaunched nearby as Spot-On Models – there’s a 2010 article […]
Uroma General Stores
Uroma General Stores, 84 North Street, Bristol BS3, 2017 • Defunct weird-name minimart enlivened by Bristol’s characteristic street art.
Wilko Services
Wilko Services, c.32 Ashton Road, Bristol BS3, 2017 • Attractive old school signage, with military tinge to the name – WILCO being radio code for Will Comply.
D.R. Butt Master Butcher
D.R. Butt Master Butcher, 28 North Street, Bristol BS3, 2017 • Dr Butt, lol – sounds like a Bart Simpson prank call. I caught this just before it closed in […]
Stan Butt Ltd
Stan Butt Ltd, 137 East Street, Bedminster, Bristol BS3, 2017 • So good they named it twice. According to this Flickr comment, meat wholesaler extraordinaire Stan Butt died a few […]
Dry Cleaning by Mister Sam
Dry Cleaning by Mister Sam, 516 Holloway Road, Borough of Islington, London N7, 2016 • Fantastically old school cleaner’s sign, which still appears to be there. (Although I bet Mister […]
Mr. Snob (Sutton)
Mr. Snob (Sutton), 224 High Street, Sutton, Surrey, 2002 • This branch has now gone, but there’s still one in Banstead, which I featured here. According to their website, the […]
Mr. Ben
Mr. Ben, 128 East Street, Bristol BS3, 2017 • Logo looks to date from around the same time as the early 1970s kids’ TV series (which was spelled Mr Benn).
Victoria Off Licence
Victoria Off Licence, 184 Victoria Road, Swindon SN1, 2017 • Glad to see people are naming off licences after me, too. I liked the big bold booze windows on this.
Victoria Chemist
Victoria Chemist, 80-82 High Street, Banstead, Surrey, 2001 • Quite a fancy 1980s-style frontage for a chemist (and named after me, always a good thing). It’s still there, double the […]
£+ Victoria Super Store
£+ Victoria Super Store, 127 Wilton Road, City of Westminster, London SW1, 2004 • Not very super Super Store (named after me). The tiny exterior doormat is a thoughtful touch.
Victoria Jane
Victoria Jane, 54 North Street, Bristol BS3, 2017 • Shop named after me, as so many things are. I’m guessing from the mural that it’s a hairdresser.
Mick Darnalds
Mick Darnalds, Vauxhall Walk, Borough of Lambeth, London SW11, 2011 • Guess McDonald’s trademark enforcers never got this far.
Lucky Fish Bar
Lucky Fish Bar, 338 Kennington Lane, Borough of Lambeth, London SE11, 2015 • Superb old school frontage and name. In 2017 it was updated, but is still very traditional looking […]
Hot Munchies
Hot Munchies, 30 Southwark Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2004, 2011, 2016 • Cheekily named arch cafe amidst sea of dirty viaduct tiles. Still there in 2018, as all […]
H’s Cafe
H’s Cafe, 82 Neptune Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2010 • Well-regarded backstreet greasy spoon with wonky hand made sign. Run by a bloke called H and his two […]
Coronation Cafe
Coronation Cafe, 190 Coronation Road, Bristol BS3, 2011 & 2017 • Traditional caff that reinvented itself as a curry house – you can see it announcing the transformation in 2012 […]
Belly Busters, Lord Byron
Belly Busters, Lord Byron, 20-22 Bridge Street East, Middlesbrough TS2, 2012 • Not two names you’d normally associate together, it is in fact Belly Busters cafe at the Lord Byron […]
Belly Busters Eating House
Belly Busters Eating House, 5 Central Avenue, West Molesey, Surrey, 2002 • Full-bodied name in full-bodied 1970s font. Still appeared to be there, and looking the same, in 2017. It gets […]
The Proud Potato
The Proud Potato, 182 Middlewood Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 2010 • 1970s-looking happy tattie, though it’s probably much more recent. Google shows it still there in 2016, the most recent […]
Silver Sea House
Silver Sea House, 62 Exeter Road, Exmouth, Devon, 2009 • Lovely name and sign on frontage obscured by red van (possibly owned by bloke waiting inside). It was unchanged by […]
Popular Cafe
Popular Cafe, 85 Lever Street, Borough of Islington, London EC1, 2013 • Once popular, here closed down and up for sale. It was soon back in business as before (repainted, […]
The Dolly Tub (Bath)
The Dolly Tub, 6 St James’s Street, Bath, Bath & North East Somerset, 2015 • Traditionally named launderette in a grand mini-arcade. You can find out about washing dollies here.
The Dolly Tub (Wem)
The Dolly Tub, 60 Aston Street, Wem, Shropshire, 2017 • Jaunty launderette sporting the old name for a galvanised washtub. The dolly was actually a wooden washing contraption, and the […]
Tool Lodge
Tool Lodge, 71 Westbourne Grove, City of Westminster, London W2, 2017 • Sounds (and looks) like an ironic 1970s throwback hipster bar but is actually a genuine 1970s throwback hardware […]
Peace Mini-Market
Peace Mini-Market, 17 & 19-21 Leytonstone Road, Stratford, Borough of Newham, London E15, 2006 • Love the name and teetering stacks of pans. It’s next door to yesterday’s fancy-fonted builder’s merchant, […]
Sidolis Buttery
Sidolis Buttery, 21 Store Street, City of Westminster, London WC1, 2002 • ‘Buttery’, that’s a cafe synonym you don’t often see. Classic Cafes says it was later renamed Lino’s, which […]
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Osnabruck Square, Albert Rd, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • Coffee kiosk established in 1960 and named, bizarrely, after an 19th Century anti-slavery novel. Still there, despite rumours in […]
GMT Cafe
GMT Cafe, 38 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Classic greasy spoon named after Greenwich Mean Time, which originates nearby. (Note also the naive cheery chef signboard, […]
Brighton Motor Factors Ltd (& Hove)
Brighton Motor Factors Ltd (& Hove), 74 St George’s Road, Brighton, East Sussex, 2010 • Love the way they squeezed a tiny afterthought “& Hove” at the bottom of their […]
Shepherd
Shepherd, Betterton Street, Covent Garden, Borough of Camden, London WC2, 2002 • No parking because there’s a load of sheep behind the door, perhaps. By 2017 it had become the […]
Wash Spin Dry
Wash Spin Dry, 207 Hackney Road, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2006 • Open very late with 60s styling. It still looked much the same in 2017, though renamed Hi […]
Welcome Shoes
Welcome Shoes, 89 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Price range £2 to £5, very welcome. Nevertheless by 2017 it had become Adebayo beauty salon.
Brighton Foam
Brighton Foam (The Red Lion), Vine Street, Brighton, East Sussex, 2004 • Just what you need at the seaside, a foam shop. It soon got the chop and by 2017 […]
Sucklings
Sucklings, 15 Park Road, Norbiton, Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London KT2, 2002 • Best name ever, albeit more suited to a butcher than a baker. Even better, they had […]
Alandra
Alandra, 143 Shoreditch High Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, 2002 • Alandra – nice name for a grim-looking jewellery wholesaler, but it’s not there any more. By 2016 […]
Late Bland (M&R Meats)
Late Bland (M&R Meats), 399 St John Street, Borough of Islington, London EC1, 2002 • Tiled ghost sign on traditional butcher. By 2014 it was called Turner & George.
SA Leatherwear
SA Leatherwear, 34 East Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Minimalist name for a leatherwear shop – can’t make out what the full title was.
Booty Wine
Booty Wine, 17 KentishTown Road, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2015 • Gotta love a shop called Booty.
Booty Food & Wine
Booty Food & Wine, 272 Neasden Lane, Neasden, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2016 • Great name – and it’s actually part of a chain.
Woks Wong
Woks Wong, The Mikado Buildings, 79 Elm Grove, Southsea, City of Portsmouth, 2016 • Punning Chinese takeaway in the aptly oriental Mikado Buildings, named after the Gilbert & Sullivan opera. The […]
Embassy Ninja
Embassy Ninja, 147 Albert Road, Southsea, City of Portsmouth, 2016 • Curiously-named visa advisor, whose graffitied shutter is now closed for good.
Pompey on a Roll
Pompey on a Roll, 210 Albert Road, Southsea, City of Portsmouth, 2016 • Punning eaterie with optimistic Portsmouth FC-themed name. No one seems to know why Portsmouth is called Pompey, […]
Pompey Hardware (Keys Kingdom)
Pompey Hardware (Keys Kingdom), 92 Fawcett Road, Southsea, City of Portsmouth, 2016 • Completely brilliant shop themed in blue and white after Portsmouth’s football team, aka Pompey. The owner even […]
Stride-In
Stride-In, 23 Octagon Parade, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, 2008 • Great name and 1970s-style wooden signboard for a men’s fashion shop undoubtedly specialising in ‘gear’ and ‘clobber’. Later moved and rebranded Stride […]
The Hexham Courant
The Hexham Courant, Beaumont Street, Hexham, Northumberland, 2016 • Historic name for a local rag, founded in 1864 and probably what the old lady at the bus stand in the previous post […]
The Hexham Tans Vegetarian Restaurant
The Hexham Tans Vegetarian Restaurant, 11 St Mary’s Chare, Hexham, Northumberland, 2016 • Palimpsest on oddly-named charity veggie caff, closed after 20 years. It soon reopened as Hextol Tans, offering “vegan-friendly, lacto” […]
Jim’ll Mix It
Jim’ll Mix It, Unit 1, Lusty Industrial Estate, Empson Street, Bromley-by-Bow, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E3, 2012 • Unfortunate Jimmy Savile-inspired name, not helped by being based on the Lusty […]
Hair and Body, Sole Man
Hair and Body, Sole Man Shoe Repairs, 25 & 25a Corbets Tey Road, Upminster, Borough of Havering, London RM14, 2016 • From plain-talking head to punning toe in a faded […]
HH Muckers, Lordship Windows
HH Muckers, Lordship Windows, c.481 Seven Sisters Road, Borough of Haringey, London N15, 2016 • HH Muckers – what a great name! Albeit partly obscured in what looks like a […]
H.C. Pretty
H.C. Pretty, 101 Gwendolen Road, Leicester LE5, 2016 • What a great name, though the premises don’t exactly live up to it. It’s actually an engineering firm.
Smelly Alley Fruit Basket (Dudmans of Reading)
Smelly Alley Fruit Basket (Dudmans of Reading), 11b UnionStreet, Reading […]
Luigi of Mayfair
Luigi of Mayfair, 55 High Street, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, 2005 • Luigi of Mayfair of Shoreham, complete with random word-spacing – the essence of 1950s gentility. Not surprisingly it’s long-gone; […]
Video Scene
Video Scene, 33 Station Road, Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, 2006 • Love the random word spacing on this. I’m not saying Birchington’s old-fashioned, but it probably does still have a video scene.
Pearly Pies
Pearly Pies, Borough Market, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • A platoon of elderly pearly pie-sellers, some of whom are surely no longer on with us.
Cabinet Benches
Cabinet Benches, side of 2 Hoxton Street, London N1, 2006 • I have no idea what cabinet benches are, but they probably don’t make them any more. The ghost sign is still […]
Chung’s (Govan)
Chung’s, 1012 Govan Road, Govan, Glasgow G51, Scotland, 2010 • Special dishes in long trays – what more could you want? Still there in 2015.
Servewell Cafe
Servewell Cafe, West Lane, Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • Nice name – though you wouldn’t call it Servebadly Cafe, would you. It’s now got a double frontage and a new […]
Chiffon (Engineering Services) Ltd
Chiffon (Engineering Services) Ltd, Almond Road, Bermondsey, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • Beautiful retro name and logo for an engineering firm.
Odds & Sods
Odds & Sods, 81 Goldsmiths Row, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2006 • Amusingly uncompromising name, with the qualification that “almost” anything is traded (including E.C.T.) – that’s quite a get-out […]
Empire Milk Bar
Empire Milk Bar, Picadilly Circus Tube Station, City of Westminster, London W1, 1988 • True fact – there was a 1930s-style milk bar operational in the orange-columned depths of Piccadilly Circus tube […]
Olympia Dining Rooms
Olympia Dining Rooms, 5-6 Wincott Parade, Kennington Road, Kennington, Borough of Lambeth, London SE11, 1988 • An original ‘Dining Rooms’ photographed just as it was closing down. Who knew that […]
Woo Lot
Woo Lot, 592 Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, Borough of WalthamForest, London E10, 2016 • Great name, great (literally) sign.
Famished Cafe
Famished Cafe, 2 Kilburn Bridge, Kilburn, Borough of Brent, London NW6, 2012 • Nice name on a colourful frontage, now replaced by Roosters Piri Piri.
F.T.T.D, Joiners Shopfitters Builders
F.T.T.D, Joiners Shopfitters Builders, 20 Tanner’s Hill, Deptford. Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Ex-shopfitter’s enlivened by a quaint Victorian-style pointing hand sign (aka a manicule). It was for now-defunct signmakers Find […]
Barclays Bank (Temple Fortune)
Barclays Bank (Temple Fortune), 802-806 Finchley Road, Borough of Barnet, London NW11, 2016 • Old-style marble and gold Barclays eagle on a branch with a name straight out of the Hobbit, in […]
Jedediah Strutt
Jedediah Strutt shop, corner of Exchange Street and St Peters Street, Derby, Derbyshire, 2010 • Empty Grade II listed former Boots building (info here) with statues of four notable locals. […]
Cat & Cucumber Café
Cat & Cucumber Café, 182 Tower Bridge Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2003 • Nice name, wayward accent, grim rear aspect. Popular and still-extant greasy spoon once immortalised in […]
Gray and Lowe
Gray and Lowe, 91 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London W12, 2016 • Amazing giant sign with random letter spacing. Their “blog-site” says they’ve been going […]
Shepherd and Flock
Shepherd and Flock, 84 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London W12, 2016 • Built 1869, a traditional Irish sports pub hanging on in an area popular with […]
Book’s
Book’s, 230 High Street, Gateshead, Tyneside, 2005 • Not a bookshop or a typo, it’s a fashion shop run by someone named Book (and shot in the dark and rain). I […]
Welcome to Super Azarbayjan
Welcome to Super Azarbayjan, 65 Hackney Road, Borough of Hackney, London E2, 2007 • Surely one of the best shop names ever. By 2012 it was a hip-looking shop with […]
J.H. Pepperell (Zack)
J.H. Pepperell (Zack), 63 Great Titchfield Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2008 • Early example of hipsterish-vintage-sign-revelation (not sure of the technical term for that). It was still there […]
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 […]
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 […]
Tutill-Nicol Ltd Jordan Woodrows
Tutill-Nicol Ltd Jordan Woodrows, 1 Richmond Street, Liverpool L1, 2003 • Traditional stationers closed in 2009 after 130 years due to a massive rent increase (article here). Inside, it had […]
Hansid
Hansid, 121 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • To me a pleasing name, though possibly once part of a greater whole. The unit has since been knocked down; […]
Robert A. Grummitt
Robert A. Grummitt, High Street, Caterham, Surrey CR3, 2001 • Suitably resonant name for a maker, repairer and restorer of violins, bows, guitars and mandolins. Established in 1971 and still in business; […]
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 […]
Grimwade Services
Grimwade Services, 262a Brixton Hill, Borough of Lambeth, London SW2, 2002 • Another Dickensian name from old Lambeth. I doubt there was much demand for ‘president’ signs.
Fagin’s House Clearance
Fagin’s House Clearance, 105 Lower Marsh, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2001 • Dickensian name and address for a Dickensian line of work. Became clothes shop Valerio.
Quickie Heel Bar
Quickie Heel Bar, 198 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • Brilliant name, as featured in the book Formerly (right). No longer there, of course.
Kabra Kebabra
Kabra Kebabra, 58 Coldharbour Lane, Borough of Lambeth, London SE5, 2015 • Coldharbour Lane seems to specialise in bonkers shop names. This one’s already quite famous on the internet. Not to […]
Crown & Glory
Crown & Glory, 10 Coldharbour Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE5, 2015 • Upper case italic script, always a bold move. A holdout from the bland new signage infecting the […]
Seagull Launderette
Seagull Launderette, 212 Coldharbour Lane, Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2015 • In the backwoods of Brixton, far from gentrification, a tiny wistful name with an elegant flourish.
J.T. Brush E.G. Brush & Son
J.T. Brush E.G. Brush & Son, 24 High Street, Caterham, Surrey, 2001 • That’s what I call a name, though they should be chimney sweeps. It’s just a plain gate […]
J. Seal Quality Butcher
J. Seal Quality Butcher, 7 Barnes High Street, Borough of Richmond upon Thames, London SW13, 2006 • Not only named in Profil, but in tiles. The butcher and tiles are […]
Aslamtex
Aslamtex, 24 High Street, Gravesend, Kent, 2015 • Another unusual name, writ extremely large – presumably the owner is called Aslam. Looks like there’s a big demand for shopping trolleys in […]
‘Agape’ £ Shop
‘Agape’ £ Shop, 88 London Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex, 2004 • An unusual name, with added poignancy given Greece’s financial woes. Although it suggests a mouth agog at the low prices, ‘Agape’ is […]
99p-+ Awamz Store
99p-+ Awamz Store, 82 Rye Lane, Peckham, Borough of Southwark, London SE15, 2010 • Splendidly-clad punter outside a bargain shop whose ‘-+’ allows infinite leeway in pricing. Now a Lycamobile-branded […]
Valentine
Valentine, 171 Long Lane, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2011 • Scary pub squat with extreme name / appearance mismatch. It may have originally been called the Valentine & Orson, […]
Herbert Sports
Herbert Sports, 12 High Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex, 2004 • According to the dictionary, Herbert is slang for “an undistinguished or foolish man or youth”, so it’s a brave name […]
Herbert Best Kebabs & Pizza
Herbert Best Kebabs & Pizza, 64 Herbert Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • Bold sign bearing the name of its superb old-school shopping road. Now called, more boringly, Delight.
Shopfront Elegy 