Boyes in York - "We called it Boyzizz!" - 13 photos

Many recall visiting the store when it stood in Bridge Street, by Ouse Bridge, until its closure in 1983.

Many locals pronounce Boyes as Boyeses (Boyzizz) and Dinah Mulvenna says her family still call Ouse Bridge Boyzizz Bridge today!

Readers recall visiting the cafe, the giant rolls of lino, buying records and Adam Ant make-up in there - and visiting the resident 'pets', including a monkey, which Gavin Craft,Valerie Wynne and Steve Horsley all recall.

The original Boyes store in Bridge Street was destroyed by a fire in 1910 and rebuilt two years later.

Our photos today show the history of Boyes in York - from that first store right through to its current stores in Goodramgate, and Acomb. We also show some incredible photos of the men who rebuilt Boyes between 1910 and 1912. Boyes first opened in Scarborough before spreading across the north, including Malton.

Boyes in Bridge Street in the 1950s

What are your memories of Boyes? Tell us in the comments below or in our Facebook group, Why We Love York - Memories.

Meanwhile, here are 12 reasons why York folk have fond memories of Boyes.

1. Sally Taylor: "I remember my mum buying my brown PE knickers. They were so big they lasted four years! Also a good place for fabric and knitting yarn. Still love Boyes 55 years later."

2. Steve Horsley: "They had a pets department with some monkeys in cages."

3. John Jackson: "My first retail job was on Saturdays at Boyes in 1974."

4. Anne Horner: "I often went in Boyes with older friends when I was a child looking for little presents for our mams.We went in the cafe where they had a big tea urn."

5. Fiona Hyde: "The cafe, with the tropical island picture and fake leaves on the back wall. I always had orange juice, mum and gran had tea. Formica tables, the glass front counter, but I was only three or four at the time. Loved the lift but gran would never go in it."

6. Phillipa Pearce: "Remember the big rolls of lino and my mother buying it for the bedrooms."

7. Michael Hodgson: "My nanna worked there and was George Boyes' son's godmother."

8. Ian Smith: "We all pronounced it ‘Boyzizz'."

9. Dinah L Mulvenna: "Still call the bridge Boyzizz Bridge today! It was where me mam would get my school uniform from - had to be a brown cardigan or jumper as I was going to St Wilfrid's and Boyes was the only place that did them."

10. Pip Leckenby: "I bought a Suzie and the Banshees record in there!"

11. Susan Ellis: "I got my very first bra from there."

12. David Nock: "I was Father Christmas 1975 and 1976! Loved my Grotto!"

Boyes opens in Acomb, York, in 2015

Many readers have been sharing their memories about Boyes with us on The Press website and in our nostalgia group on Facebook,Why We Love York - Memories.

You can join the group via this link: www.facebook.com/groups/yorknostalgia/