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 […]
Taste of China
Taste of China, 53 Hackney Road, Borough of Hackney, London EC2, 2006 • Randomly spaced script for an old school Chinese takeaway. Amazingly it was still there in 2018 and […]
Pam & Neil at Lakes
Pam & Neil at Lakes, 48 Exeter Road, Exmouth, Devon, 2009 • Classic old-school fruiterer, with fruitbox window shade extensions. By 2018 it was a not so fab shop called […]
Gak Pro-Audio
Gak Pro-Audio, 76-82 North Road, Brighton, East Sussex, 2010 • Graffiti shutters by (or emulating) Eine for muso store GAK – which, if I’m not mistaken, is slang for cocaine. […]
Bunner
Bunner, Arthur Street, Montgomery, Powys, Wales, 2017 • Edwardian-fronted traditional ironmongers founded in 1892 and still run by the same family. Still a well-used local store, it’s jam-packed and museum-like […]
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 […]
Worthing & District TV
Worthing & District TV, 147 Tarring Road, Worthing, West Sussex, 2003 • Seaside signwriting with grocer’s apostrophe. The 1959-founded TV shop became Simpson Electrical, and Setyres is still there.
Secondhand Racers
Secondhand Racers, 231 Brixton Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SW9, 2003 • Apparently that’s a Triumph Vitesse. By 2016 the building was not so colourful, and selling used taxi tyres.
M.A.M. Auto
M.A.M. Auto • 23 Midland Road, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2002 • Garages down the side of St Pancras station, in its days ofgrimy pre-restoration grandeur.
Wok Inn
Wok Inn, 88 High Street, Reigate, Surrey, 2002 • Always nice to see a pun on Wok. Later became Mexicode Fresh Mexican Kitchen, leaving the nearest wok outlet as Gourmet Wok, […]
Afro Supermarket
Afro Supermarket, 87 Gravel Street, Leicester LE1, 2016 • Multicultural modernist tiling in the brutalist quarter of this fascinating city.
New and S/Hand Tyres
New and S/Hand Tyres, 115 Dulwich Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE24, 2001 • Textures of yellow with beautiful old signwriting. Later moved upmarket to house “heritage inspired” clothes label […]
Robert I. Perry
Robert I. Perry, 66 Croydon Road, Caterham, Surrey CR3, 2001 • Why do closed-down shops always seem to have scary circus posters in the window? Despite the planning notice, this […]
Bungalows Cafe
Bungalows Cafe, 80 Mare Street, Borough of Hackney, London E8, 2007 • Another cafe with handily-placed church. Still there but not as attractive.
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 […]
Handy Supply Co
Handy Supply Co, 41 Herbert Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE18, 2004 • DIY type for a DIY store. It’s now, blub, a Peri Peri Grill.
Sutton Wash House
Sutton Wash House, 2 Sutherland House, 29 Brighton Road, Sutton, Surrey, 2002 • Welcoming laundry with a Dickensian name and a logo like a car number plate. It lasted until around 2012 but now, […]
Quality Cafe
Quality Cafe, 3 Station Road South, Merstham, Surrey, 2001 • Beautiful station cafe. It’s now been modified with pale blue tiles and orange windows, and looks really weird. There’s an incredibly […]
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 […]
Paolina Thai
Paolina Thai Food Cafe & Takeaway, 181 Kings Cross Road, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2003 • Abject-looking takeaway with nice lettering on its pavement sign (bottom). It’s still there, […]
JacLen
JacLen, 18 Dockley Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • I love the typography on this DIY doorway, deep in a Dickensian Bermondsey viaduct. It’s presumably named after Jack and […]
City Tyres
City Tyres, 2 Malcolm Place, Bethnal Green, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2007 • Mellow yellow, plus old tyres. Stayed there till around 2015 then moved to another road nearby (see […]
The Grub Shop
The Grub Shop, 178 Lambeth Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2006 • Another great name, on a cafe which used to change colour every year. It’s now called The Corner […]
St Noahs News
St Noahs News, 41 Trafalgar Street, Brighton, East Sussex, 2014 • Sunny frontage for the patron saint of missing apostrophes. I’m always attracted by newsagents because they’re a type of shop that’s […]
Rolando’s Patisserie
Rolando’s Patisserie, 33 Tavistock Place, Borough of Camden, London WC1, 2002 • Unrecognisable now, just a plain house – only the front door is the same.
Call Saver
Call Saver, 20 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2010 • A colourful closure; there’s a great pic of the premises open here.
Thearne
Thearne, 15 South Street, Kingston upon Hull, 2013 • Not all the old shops in Hull are run down, as this superbly-signed example shows.
CGS Computers
CGS Computers, 22 Tanner’s Hill, Deptford, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • More unconvincing “computer” type, on premises that later became a Thai massage joint.
Soundcraft Limited
Soundcraft Limited, 4 Tottenham Mews, Borough of Camden, London W1, 2005 • Looks like a classic 1970s design, but I worked in this strange prow-like building in the early 1990s (when […]
Colour Centre
Colour Centre, 29a Offord Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002 • Heaven knows (perhaps literally) what the original occupants would have made of this. Still there in 2012, but white […]
Copy Copy
Copy Copy, 181 Southwark Park Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2002 • To some boring, to me charmingly mundane, with witty double name. Later became AM DIY Builders Ltd.
Marcon & Co.
Marcon & Co., 14 Leytonstone Road, Borough of Newham, London E15, 2006 • DSS-friendly carpet store enlivened by layers of classic signwriting. Local aspirations must have changed, as it later became […]
Sunbird Travel
Sunbird Travel, 341 Kennington Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE11, 2002 • Lovely piece of acrylic art – the bird even has a tiny dot for its eye (bottom). Closed 2002 […]
J. Wilson & Co.
J. Wilson & Co, 96 David Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow G40, Scotland, 2012 • Dinky yellow works brightening up a Scottish industrial estate, in the same row as yesterday’s unit. […]
Sun Sun
Sun Sun, 45 High Street, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, 2001 • Sunny by name, sunny by nature. Now the very dark and doomy-looking Oriental Chef.
AM & Son Auto Electrician
AM & Son Auto Electrician, 25 Midland Road, Borough of Camden, London NW1, 2002 • One of of a series of decaying garages subsumed into the vast, posh ramparts of the […]
Byrite
Byrite, 140 Oxford Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2002 • Remember the chain Mr Byrite? It started in 1912 as hat shop Levy & Son; and here is is in […]
America St Testing Stn
America St Testing Stn, 39 America Street, Borough of Southwark, London SE1, 2002 • A lovely name, charmingly hand-painted. Was replaced by a far less cheerful-looking auto business.
Notarianni & Sons
Notarianni & Sons, 142 Battersea High Street, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW11, 2002 • Exceptionally fine 1950s diner-style facade later mainly concealed beneath a maroon Indian restaurant fascia.
Hammerton Plumbing Fittings
Hammerton Plumbing Fittings, 159 Stoke Newington Road, Hackney, London N16, 2002 • Beautiful old shop now unrecognisable – though still yellow – as Safak Florist.
Hong Kong Garden
Hong Kong Garden, 22 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Now says New Hong Kong Garden on a garish magenta sign, but the yellow stripes beneath remain.
Des & Sons Audio Technology 2001
Des & Sons Audio Technology 2001, 105 Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, Borough of Lambeth, London SE24, 2001 • A look slightly at odds with the futuristic-sounding year. By 2012 it […]
Brothers Garden
Brothers Garden, 3 Pier Road, North Woolwich, Borough of Newham, London E16, 2005 • A magnificently tumbledown corner now occupied by Harvest Chinese Takeaway. A DLR connection has led to a lot of […]
The Pot Company
The Pot Company, 16-20 Raymouth Road, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • As in garden accessories, not drugs. Now obliterated: the arches were refurbished with anonymous blue units.
Shopfront Elegy 