The shops we've loved and lost on our high street

But what about those afternoons and weekends we used to spend walking up and down the high street trying to find the best bargain or perfect pair of shoes...

Which stores and memories do you miss the most? 

Our Price

Our Price, Bournemouth 1999. 

You probably brought your first single here and your second and probably your third … 

Our Price used to be a popular record store selling everything including CD’s and tapes. 

We had an Our Price store on nearly every high street in the county including in Bournemouth and the Dolphin Centre in Poole.

The company started in 1971 but closed in 2004 with the rise of MP3’s and music download sites.

>>Pictures of old shops in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset

Timothy Whites 

Timothy Whites was a chemist and houseware store that first opened in Portsmouth in 1848. 

From then, it went on to have over 600 stores up and down Britain, including on Poole High Street. 

The chain was brought by Boots in 1968. 

Woolworths

Woolies, Poole High Street 1981.

One of Britain’s most quintessential high street stores has got to be Woolworths. 

As kids we used to run in after school to grab a bag of pick n mix whilst tasting the odd one as we went. 

Mum’s always referred to it as ‘Woolies’ and no back-to-school shop was complete without stopping into the store.  

The first Woolworths store in Bournemouth opened just six years after the chain was started in 1909. 

Radio Rentals

Radio Rentals, Old Christchurch Road, 1972

Founded in Brighton in 1930, Radio Rentals was iconic in it’s day as the shop to rent your radio, television or video recorders. 

The company boomed at the turn of the 1980’s when we all wanted the latest TV sets and material gadgets in our homes at affordable prices. 

In the 90’s Radio Rentals brought the iconic Rumbelows stores that once rivalled the likes of Currys, Dixons and Comet.

However, the company became defunct in 2000 as electronics became cheaper to buy and the need to rent became less. 

Do It All

Once upon a time Do It All was well known as the place to go to stock up on essential DIY and home improvement goods.

But with fierce competition coming from the likes of Homebase and B&Q the DIY store closed its doors in 2011. 

Beatties Model Shop 

The much-loved model toy shop was a tinkerer’s dream, from toy cars to model railway sets and lots more. 

Beatties stores were all over the UK with lots of children, fathers and grandads running to their nearest store at the weekend to get a project to work on.

Back in the day, having a Beatties Club charge account would make you the envy of everyone in the playground or even pub.

The toy chain company went into administration in 2001. 

Freeman Hardy and Willis

Freeman Hardy and Willis, Poole high street.

Known as the shop to buy shoes for ‘all the family’, there was a branch of Freeman Hardy and Willis in nearly every town across the country including Poole high street.

The shop used to wrap their shoes in iconic brown paper bags, imprinted with the letters FHW which became known as the legend ‘for happy walking’. 

During the 90’s many Freeman Hardy and Willis stores were turned into Hush Puppies stores and the empire closed in 1996. 

Blockbuster

Blockbuster, Westbourne 2013

Our grandchildren will never know the excitement of a Friday night trip to Blockbuster to rent a few movies for the weekend. 

One of the last to close in the county was the Blockbuster in Westbourne. 

Before the likes of Netflix and TV on-demand, Blockbuster was the place to go to choose what to watch and get some perfect movie snacks. 

The film, TV and games rental company went into administration in 2013.  

Toys R Us

Toys R Us, Poole. 

The toy giant announced in March 2018 that all UK stores would begin liquidation and be closed within six weeks. 

Although not on our high streets, there was a huge Toys R Us on the Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole.

The shop's rival, Smyths, purchased Toys R Us stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as their head office in Cologne.  

If we have missed your favourite shop, let us know in the comments!