Lost shops: 40 nostalgic photos chart the rise and fall of UK high street giants we all remember

Do you remember filling your bag with pick ‘n’ mix at Woolworth, browsing the latest releases at Our Price, or checking out the latest fashions at Littlewoods.

Those are just some of the big chains pictured that had hundreds of stores across the UK at their peak before disappearing from the nation’s high streets.

This retro photo gallery captures some of these much-missed shops around the North West, going back nearly a century, from their early years to the closing-down sales.

Can you believe it is nearly two decades since the last Woolworths stores closed for good in 2009, and more than that since C&A exited the British high street in 2001?

If you’re old enough to remember them, these nostalgic pictures are bound to bring back memories of shopping trips from years gone by.

They show the stores as you may remember them in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and noughties.

They take you right back to the pre-decimal days, showing how these stores and the fashions they stocked changed over the decades.

Between them, these stores employed many thousands of staff, and some of those loyal workers are pictured saying their final goodbyes as they mark the end of an era.

Famous visitors are pictured too, from a young Noel Edmonds to Coronation Street star Jenny McAlpine, better known to viewers as Fizz.e

Do these photos bring back any memories for you? Which shops do you miss most?

If you’re after more retro photos showing how life used to look in the North West, you might enjoy these pictures of popular shopping centres in the 70s, 80s and 90s.