In this extra helping of The Ashton Review of Shops, we look at how WHSmith’s turmoil and wonder if there’s a way out It is fair to say that at any point in our lives, we Britons have had some link with W.H. Smith and Sons in more ways than one. Indirectly, we have had…
Category: Shopping
Retail Comings and Goings in Tameside, August 2020: The Ashton Review of Shops
This month’s semi-quarantined window on the shop windows Have you seen any signs of the New Normal, or would this New Normal be a mere interlude in advance of a possible second wave? Whatever happens, August 2020 will be a world away from August 2019, never mind August 2009. Shortly after the publication of last…
Can You Have a Full Yorkshire Picnic?
Feast of the M60 asks if you can have an all-Yorkshire picnic With relatives on both sides of the Pennines, I could claim dual nationality status if in the unlikely event that Yorkshire secedes from Westminster rule. Thanks to the lockdown and yours truly not having left Greater Manchester since then, a strange thought occurred…
Retail Comings and Goings in Tameside, July 2020: The Ashton Review of Shops
This month’s semi-quarantined window on the shop windows By the time you have read this, you may have had your first pint in a pub in 14 weeks. Instead of celebrating this, your first pint in a pub since lockdown might be your last for a while because of recent redundancy announcements. You might be…
Shopping With Confidence, Tameside Style: Ashton Review of Shops Extra
Ashton Review of Shops Extra looks at the reopening of ‘non essential’ retailers For some commentators, the 15 June 2020 would be seen as the day when normality returned to the High Street. With the reopening of ‘non essential’ retailers, it has been represented as part of our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Clippercard Makes a Comeback!
Clipper ticket resurrects spirit of the Clippercard on Metrolink trams The Clippercard is dead… long live the Clippercard! Well, that’s how we may have reported on the self-cancelling ticket’s demise if East of the M60 was around in 2004. Years after the original ticket’s demise, Greater Manchester Transport’s ten-trips-for-the-price-of-nine tickets still carry fond memories. You…
Retail Comings and Goings in Tameside, June 2020: The Ashton Review of Shops
This month’s semi-quarantined window on the shop windows It is fair to say that in this edition of the Ashton Review of Shops would be little different to the previous one. Over the last week, these assumptions went out of the window. Especially as some parts of the lockdown have been relaxed. On reading these…
Retail Comings and Goings in Tameside, May 2020: The Ashton Review of Shops
This month’s quarantined window on the shop windows Once again, this month’s edition of the Ashton Review of Shops will be an unusual one. This, for obvious reasons, is thanks to the Coronavirus situation which has affected our businesses as well as our shopping habits. In spite of this, some of our High Street businesses…
The Lost Hypermarket: An A to Z of Long Lost Brands
Lost items from our supermarket shelves If you have spent more than four decades on this planet, you will have seen many shops go the way of dinosaurs. Not a single day goes by without there being a “Do You Remember the Woolworths Pick and Mix” counter or “School Puddings” meme. I have yet to…
Retail Comings and Goings in Tameside, April 2020: The Ashton Review of Shops
This month’s quarantined window on the shop windows This month’s edition of the Ashton Review of Shops will be an unusual one, thanks to the Coronavirus situation which has affected our businesses as well as our shopping habits. Therefore, this edition, and subsequent editions of The Ashton Review of Shops till the end of the…
