With high streets constanly changing, we looked back on some of Newcastle’s iconic lost shops
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00:00While it's difficult to pinpoint a single year, shops in Newcastle, like many other areas,
00:05began to struggle with increased competition and changing consumer habits.
00:09Especially in the late 80s and 90s, a lot of the traditional stores that had survived wars
00:13in the Great Depression couldn't survive the constant evolution of the retail market.
00:18I'll be looking at Newcastle's iconic Lodge shops.
00:22Binns was a landmark in Newcastle's shopping scene for over a century.
00:26Established in 1860 by William Binns,
00:28the department store became an iconic retail destination for local shoppers.
00:33Originally located on the corner of Grey Street and Market Street,
00:36the Newcastle store opened in 1929 and it was known for its wide variety of high-quality goods,
00:42from fashion to homeware and luxury items.
00:45Binns was synonymous with quality and service and had a loyal following for generations.
00:50However, the end of Binns came in January 1995,
00:53when parent company House of Fraser stated that the Market Street was no longer profitable.
00:58TJ Hughes, behind me here, now occupies some of what used to be Binns.
01:04Now, John Lewis is a name we all know when it comes to British retail,
01:07but before the department store arrived in Newcastle,
01:10the site had been home to another iconic store, Bainbridge's.
01:14The store was also originally located here on Market Street and opened in 1852.
01:19Just over 100 years later, the store became a branch of the John Lewis Partnership in 1953.
01:25This partnership allowed for much-needed investment in the store and in October 1976,
01:30the shop relocated into the newly built Eldon Square Shopping Centre.
01:34In 2002, the Bainbridge name was changed to John Lewis Newcastle.
01:38While the store, of course, looks very different today,
01:40it's still open, even surviving the Covid-19 pandemic.
01:45But what are some of the shops you miss here in Newcastle?
01:49Oh, what was it called?
01:50Oh, there's so many of them gone.
01:52Used to go and have our tea, and my mum used to take us.
01:55Little Woods?
01:56Little Woods.
01:57Oh, I miss that shop.
02:00Well, I suppose, you know, because I was a younger man when I first moved up here,
02:03it was things like record shops I used to go into.
02:05So, I mean, there's ones that I, yeah,
02:08I don't think the buildings that they were in are even still here now.
02:12But, you know, I used to love going and mooching around a second-hand record shop.
02:17Well, the biggest one, the one that's gone recently,
02:19is JJ Windows in the Arcade.
02:21I mean, it's been in Newcastle for over 100 years.
02:24And everybody, I mean, I'm 63,
02:27and everybody of an age used to buy their records in there in the 70s, 80s, 90s.
02:31You know, it was a brilliant place.
02:33You could go to Longstaffle Road, the Cooks,
02:35and you can go in there and you could buy anything in Cooks.
02:38And it's none of them shops now, you know, despite it all, despite it all.
02:43All the little local shops that you used to get in town,
02:47they've all gone and all taken over by major buildings,
02:51you know, that's big businesses.
02:54All the small businesses have gone.
02:55You'd think he's thinking brand new business,
02:57and I don't even know what they're for.