Hidden History of York: shops lost since the 1990s

HALFWAY down Coney Street is Streetlife, the exhibition of a project conducted by University of York staff and students to show city residents and tourists some of the iconic landmarks in the city that no longer exist.

The shops section of the exhibition features a history of Leak & Thorp. Leak & Thorp opened in 1848 as a draper’s shop in Parliament Street but later moved to the site of the former George Inn on Coney Street and became York’s first department store. Leak & Thorp was eventually sold and closed its doors in 1987.

A vast number of shops have closed in York in the past 40-50 years. Who remembers the bike shop CS Russell (York) Ltd in Clifford Street? And what about the Gough & Davy music shop on Stonebow? Or Woolworth’s in Coney Street, now Boots? After walking around the Streetlife exhibition, I was inspired to reflect on my own favourite shops which have disappeared since I moved to York more than 30 years ago.

Back in the 1990s, I remember buying a high-quality short-wave transistor radio at a small shop in Patrick Pool near York market. For many years, Ernest Roy (Electricals) Ltd at 5, Patrick Pool was the go-to outlet for an astonishing range of electrical appliances, devices, and accessories. Ernest Roy had launched the shop in 1957 and his family continued to own the building.

Customer-friendly Ken Devey, who ran the shop for 26 years, was well-known locally for his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things electrical and ran a profitable concern. One customer commented that Ken would be a hard act to follow. Unfortunately, nobody could be found to buy the business, and the shop closed in 2019. Times change and now the building houses The Portal Bookshop and Over the Rainbow café upstairs.

Ernest Roy Electricals - now closed (Image: Newsquest)

A favourite of mine and my partner’s on a Saturday used to be Borders bookshop in Davygate. We spent hours browsing and buying books in this multi-storey chain store where we could sit in comfy chairs and enjoy a cappuccino or a cup of hot chocolate from the in-store café. At its height, Borders employed 40-50 staff. Sadly, no buyer could be found, and the Borders UK chain went into administration ten years after the York store had first opened in 1999.

Shortly after coming to York, I bought a sofa-bed from Whitby Oliver & Sons Ltd. in Micklegate. The company subsequently moved to the Fulford Industrial Estate on Hospital Fields Road. Trading under the name Britannia Olivers, it now concentrates on its removals, storage and shipping business.

On my daily drive back from Clifton Moor, where I worked for several years, my eye was often drawn to a small shop in Bootham near The White Horse pub. CE Seymour’s proudly announced that it had suited York for 60 years. This independent tailor’s sold made-to-measure suits and clothes for men. Charles Edward Seymour opened his shop in Church Street in 1950 and moved to the Bootham premises in 1990. His son Richard ran this family shop until he retired after the business had been in existence for 65 years. The shop prided itself on traditional values and excellent customer service.

Within five minutes walking distance from my home was London’s newsagent’s and toy shop which had been a presence in Heworth for more than 80 years. Frederick London had opened the shop in East Parade in 1914 and it moved to spacious premises at the corner of East Parade and Mill Lane in the early 1930s. The toy department closed in 2014 and the newsagent’s a year later. Today, the building is a block of flats and the name London’s has been happily preserved on its façade.

Further down the road in Layerthorpe, there used to be Netto. Danish-owned Netto withdrew from the UK in 2010, and the Layerthrope store is still a supermarket, but now part of the Asda chain.

There are, of course, multiple reasons for shop closures and these have been well-rehearsed. In the case of small family-run shops, the owners retire and cannot hand on their businesses or find suitable buyers. Independent shops are unable to compete with the large national chain stores that so predominantly grace York’s city centre streets these days. Many retail products, notably books, for instance, have increasingly gone online, and cannot justify expensive and labour-intensive premises. People buy their meat, cheese, and bread in supermarkets. And there is less demand for formal and made-to-measure clothes. In cities such as York, the city centre has been pedestrianised. Out-of-town retail parks such as Monks Cross and Clifton Moor have easier parking facilities. And high commercial rates and rents in the city centre make potential shop owners cautious about buying or renting premises there.

Shops have always needed to respond to what people want to buy, and in today’s York, residents and visitors come to the city centre to enjoy their free time. People want to eat and drink with friends and family, and York city centre offers an amazing variety of ethnic restaurants, cafés, and cocktail bars. But will they still be around in 30 or 40 years? History suggests that the future will continue to bring substantial changes to the retail landscape.

David Wilson is a community writer with The Press