Metropol

Surprised you never came across the yellow branding in Sheffield WillPS - there was one store at Intake with the same fascia, every other store I can remember had the standard blue Sheffield Co-op signing. Not sure which society owned it?

Was one of the first (if not the first) to change to the standard green Co-operative signage in Sheffield too.

woah wrote:Surprised you never came across the yellow branding in Sheffield WillPS - there was one store at Intake with the same fascia, every other store I can remember had the standard blue Sheffield Co-op signing. Not sure which society owned it?

Was one of the first (if not the first) to change to the standard green Co-operative signage in Sheffield too.

I didn't move to Sheffield until 2008 (just missed Castle House department store, but was in time for the Food Hall instore Greggs bakery and the TK Maxx in United's Sunwin House). The 'welcome' fascia was common in Nottingham (CWS have been in control there for at least most of my lifetime, previously it was GNRG), but I'm pretty sure they'd all been converted to the new green fascia by the time I moved away.

Perhaps SCS fitted that one out with that fascia as a trial or a stop gap? Can you find it on this guy's photostream - he seems to know his stuff: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=3812157 ... eld&m=text

WillPS wrote:

woah wrote:Surprised you never came across the yellow branding in Sheffield WillPS - there was one store at Intake with the same fascia, every other store I can remember had the standard blue Sheffield Co-op signing. Not sure which society owned it?

Was one of the first (if not the first) to change to the standard green Co-operative signage in Sheffield too.

I didn't move to Sheffield until 2008 (just missed Castle House department store, but was in time for the Food Hall instore Greggs bakery and the TK Maxx in United's Sunwin House). The 'welcome' fascia was common in Nottingham (CWS have been in control there for at least most of my lifetime, previously it was GNRG), but I'm pretty sure they'd all been converted to the new green fascia by the time I moved away.

Perhaps SCS fitted that one out with that fascia as a trial or a stop gap? Can you find it on this guy's photostream - he seems to know his stuff: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=3812157 ... eld&m=text

Castle House is a really lovely building that really deserves some investment (and looks like it's getting some, it's been stripped out and the Co-op store has finally been refurbed) - it was full of old lady tat until it closed. The cafe on the top floor was just appallingly decorated and was full of OAPs. I think right up until closure, that it had a lady in the lift sat on a stool who asked what floor you wanted - it was very odd!

It's not in that photostream, but it was this store, now fitted with green branding: http://g.co/maps/zcku5

Best pic I can get of it is this: http://binged.it/w0yIx5

Yeah I'm glad to see Castle House getting some attention. The circular staircase and polished granite front are really quite nice.

The lifts in the Nottingham Department Store had a suited conductor too (I remember because I wanted his job as a child!!) but the lifts were completely manual - the conductor would press a button to close the doors (which wouldn't take any prisoners) then jam a small handle shaped like a stamper into the up or down position, and hold it until you passed the last floor (so if you were going from ground to second, he'd hold it until he'd passed the first floor) and then it would pop out of place and the doors opened. There was a wonderful panel with a load of lights showing which floors were calling the lift and the position of the other lifts.

The circular staircase is great - can still be seen through the windows just about.

I've got a couple of bad phone pics from a few months ago of the one remaining floor - a whole shop floor that is empty other than the Post Office. It's very eerie and hard to believe it is supposed to be the main Sheffield Post Office!

It is strange isn't it. What always got me was the trophy cabinet which was all lit up in there but empty. Last time I went in as I was walking along the long corridor they've created by boxing off the shop floor somebody whizzed by on their bike - it is a trek!

Another utterly magnificent building, the coop dept store in Newgate St, Newcastle, is to be turned into a hotel. I do hope they have to keep the neon co-operative signs on the towers.

Another building that shows the problems of centralised branding stupidity, there were a few attempts over time to try and get things to tie in with the 1920s faux Egyptian style of the building but they always ended up looking cheap. Hopefully the stairwells will be open again soon so the utterly magnificent "co-operative men" banisters can be seen again.

Fab little site of pics here, incl the amazing banister. http://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/newcastle_co-op.htm


MEANWHILE - Back to Tesco, does anyone else's Tesco have a habit of making homemade POS in Word using autoshapes and printing it off on the big photo developing printer? Will try to get a picture later in the week.

http://www.ukretailers.blogspot.com/201 ... iches.html

a quick look at the Tesco problems (part 1)...

Pete wrote:Another utterly magnificent building, the coop dept store in Newgate St, Newcastle, is to be turned into a hotel. I do hope they have to keep the neon co-operative signs on the towers.

Another building that shows the problems of centralised branding stupidity, there were a few attempts over time to try and get things to tie in with the 1920s faux Egyptian style of the building but they always ended up looking cheap. Hopefully the stairwells will be open again soon so the utterly magnificent "co-operative men" banisters can be seen again.

Fab little site of pics here, incl the amazing banister. http://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/newcastle_co-op.htm

There's fairly frequent progress updates on the conversion to a Travelodge over on this forum. The "COOPERATIVE" clock and the barometer on the towers are, apparently, being kept and restored to working order.

Wrong thread.