Metropol

WillPS wrote:While I'm thinking of it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/co-operativestores/

This seems to be one bloke who rather likes Co-Operative stuff. A good number of the stores are pictured, sometimes in interesting states (this ex-Sainsbury's at Jacksons is just one example).

Lost a good few hours procrastinating through this stuff!

This beast (unfortunately now closed) is my favourite: http://www.flickr.com/photos/co-operati ... 272888808/

I found a piece about it in the library once, where the bloke in charge of GNCS went on record saying he expected all GNCS Supermarkets to resemble this one by the year 2000. Oh dear.

I go past that all the time but I had actually forgotten what it used to house. Part of me thought it was a Superpound for some reason.

The building looks fantastic though.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/co-operati ... otostream/

Opened December 2002, closed March 2003 - what a waste!

Malpass93 wrote:The building looks fantastic though.

It's up on Co-op's estates website, they want over £200,000pa for it. I'd be surprised if they ever achieved that in revenue leave alone profit.

Until a few years before its demise it had huge "CO-OPERATIVE" lettering in the Eurostile font over it. Really looked like a proper 70s disaster!

woah wrote:http://www.flickr.com/photos/co-operati ... otostream/

Opened December 2002, closed March 2003 - what a waste!

Only at the Co-op!!

WillPS wrote:

Malpass93 wrote:The building looks fantastic though.

It's up on Co-op's estates website, they want over £200,000pa for it. I'd be surprised if they ever achieved that in revenue leave alone profit.

It's not even a prime location, why would anyone spend so much for it? The only good thing about it from a business standpoint is that it's huge, the car-park/tradesman's entrance thing is quite big too.

I personally doubt it'll ever see use again. It's a proven failure, it looks a disaster and the location isn't great.

The car park was huge - but the under-cover bit was closed off for longer than I've lived, rendering it merely normal sized.

My hunch is the site will be sold, existing store demolished and we'll get a fast food outlet and a Tesco Express/Sainsbury's Local.

A point of intrigue regarding Haldanes - they were the listed buyer of 20 out of the 50-or-so Netto stores ASDA had to sell. A further handful were supposed to go to Iceland too (who are obviously likely to be split and/or disappear inside the next 12 months). So that's 25-or-so Netto's that are effectively 'orphaned' now, along with the Haldanes stores.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Haldanes reopened once again as Co-operative Food stores. The former-Kwik Save/Somerfield/Haldanes in Kirkby-in-Ashfield for example, where the larger Co-op in town has recently closed to make way for a Morrisons. That said, this is the Co-op we're dealing with.

One final Co-op oddity - it seems that when Somerfield sold Kwik Save, they too didn't sell the stores, instead leasing them to the new company. This means that the Co-op still owns some sites like this one, which made it to the thrice failed 'fresh xpress' company.

WillPS wrote:

woah wrote:http://www.flickr.com/photos/co-operati ... otostream/

Opened December 2002, closed March 2003 - what a waste!

Only at the Co-op!!

Was it really that long ago? I remember it closed because The Southern Co-operative had taken over another company and one of the branches was in Isambard Kingdom Brunel Road, so they closed the new branch in Commercial Road and moved into the newly acquired branch. Why I don't know as the branch they had just opened was in a prime City Centre area. The Commercial Road branch was left empty until fairly recently.

I can remember as a boy where I lived it was called Crazy Cuts

DavidHemsley wrote:I can remember as a boy where I lived it was called Crazy Cuts

SCS (Sheffield Society) operated a Pound-shop chain named "Sound as a Pound"

WillPS wrote:

DavidHemsley wrote:I can remember as a boy where I lived it was called Crazy Cuts

SCS (Sheffield Society) operated a Pound-shop chain named "Sound as a Pound"

I remember that place! There was one at Manor Top, not sure of any others - I never knew it was run by SCS though. There was a picture of that place around the entrance of Republic in Meadowhell as part of a montage of Sheffield pictures, even though Sound as A Pound has been shut many years. I think it's still there!

woah wrote:

WillPS wrote:

DavidHemsley wrote:I can remember as a boy where I lived it was called Crazy Cuts

SCS (Sheffield Society) operated a Pound-shop chain named "Sound as a Pound"

I remember that place! There was one at Manor Top, not sure of any others - I never knew it was run by SCS though. There was a picture of that place around the entrance of Republic in Meadowhell as part of a montage of Sheffield pictures, even though Sound as A Pound has been shut many years. I think it's still there!

http://web.archive.org/web/200502041151 ... Pound.html

Sicey Avenue
13 Sicey Avenue
Sheffield S5 6NG
Crookes

196/198 Crookes
Sheffield S10 1TG

Ridgeway Road
8-10 Ridgeway Road
Sheffield S12 2SS

Manor Park
56-58 Manor Park Centre
Sheffield

Stocksbridge
512 Manchester Road
Stocksbridge, Sheffield S36 2DU

were the stores as of February 2005. Never actually went in one, they might not have actually been pound-shops (like the misleading Poundstretcher!).

You've reminded me of this store from near by Bromsgrove, was there for as long as I can remember till a few years ago.