Town centre shop chains that once sold Speccy games, are dying

[PeteProdge]

Here in the UK, there have been some rumours about WHSmith's (a nationwide chain of shops, mainly selling newspapers/magazines, but also sells stationery, books and snacks) being at death's door, due to decreased footfall because of you-know-what. Boots -which is like a big pharmacy that also sells peripheral stuff like make-up, perfume - is also feeling the heat Some other familiar high street names, like Debenhams, are also facing a very tough time (although problems were there before the outbreak, it's just being accelerated now), but I'm bringing up WHSmith's and Boots, as they are the current survivors of - what I believe is - the holy trinity of famous 8-bit game outlets from back in the day.

• Boots
• WHSmith
• Woolworth's

Of course, I expect responses to point out other big names that could be included, like John Menzies (to me, they weren't quite as huge as these three, Menzies seemed to be quasi-national, almost confined to some regions, I never saw them in my county).

Woolworth's famously bit the dust in 2009, and it was like a national scandal, as these stores had been prolific in virtually every city and town in the UK, for many many decades. They seemed to sell... everything. You could go in there and come out with rawlplugs, a 7 inch single, a pair of stockings and a bag of sweets.
Oh yes, the thing to note here is that all the names in this '8-bit trinity' used to sell music back in the day. Vinyl, cassette and CD. Woolworths seemed to be the cheapest and most kid/teen-friendly, so it'd be the place to see the top 40 all on shelves. It died out by the end of the 1990s.
I think, with these shops selling pop music, that they believed the home computing trend of the 1980s would be something they could easily turn their hand to, and yeah, they did alright at this. Woolworths was commonly stocked with budget games, mostly from Mastertronic's labels, as they had a good working relationship with the chain. I cannot ever remember buying a full price game from Woolworths, I tended to pick them up from Boots on the rare occasions I had enough money to get one!
My local branch, at some point in 1989, suddenly put a load of old games from some years back at discounted prices. Mostly CRL and Melbourne House releases. I got my mum to buy me CRL's 18-rated Jack The Ripper. (I was awful at it, so didn't see much in the way of gore.) I have no idea why they had so many of these that must have been sitting gathering some dust in a stock room. By the time they were put on shelves for a cheap sale, it was like the kind of thing you'd have cluttering up a Crash covertape.

WHSmith
I never had a WHSmith in my town back in the 1980s, as there was a big independent newsagent in the shopping centre that filled the same role. In the mid-1990s, it got replaced by WHSmith. Of course, we'd see WHSmith's on our travels, over in neighbouring towns and in London.
I think I'd be right in saying they actually sold home computers in the early 1980s, but I'm not sure on that one.
The disappointing thing about WHSmith's is they tended to price their games higher than everyone else, and the choice wasn't that wide.
These days the way they turn a profit, is by the shops they have at service station, railway stations and airports, which are significantly more expensive than the town branches for things like soft drinks and snacks. It's been keeping the chain afloat these past few years, along with the ridiculous insistence of offering each newspaper customer a £1 bottle of mineral water or a huge slab of Cadbury's chocolate.

Boots
As I previously mentioned, this was my preference. It had the biggest amount of stock, with full price and budget games in plentiful supply, along with weekly charts. I can say with some certainty they sold home computers in the early 1980s, it was probably the place where I first tried a ZX Spectrum.
Also, another anachronism from those days, was how popular it would be to get your photos developed. The computer games were placed pretty close to the photo labs and the top 40 singles. You can't imagine the modern day Boots being involved in that business today.

Have I got it right? Are there other big name chains deserving of a mention?

[p13z]

Boots, as it was, already died. Back then, they were a great British company. A while back they were involved in a buyout. They closed their UK operation / offices, sacked the staff, moved everything to tax havens, stopped paying tax, and became ruthless in ripping off the NHS to the extreme - stealing the UK tax money they don't pay to investors overseas.
The current company doesn't deserve the nostalgia or loyalty that the trading name is used to invoke.

[PeteProdge]

A while back they were involved in a buyout. They closed their UK operation / offices, sacked the staff, moved everything to tax havens, stopped paying tax, and became ruthless in ripping off the NHS to the extreme - stealing the UK tax money they don't pay to investors overseas.

I didn't know this, that's quite a depressing, and yet, predictable account of what they are. They're a bit like a health-fixated modern-day WHSmiths. I do know they kind of merged with Walgreens of the USA. I went into one of those during a week-long holiday in New York, it was one of the nearest shops to our hotel, and it felt a bit like their answer to Boots, albeit, smaller.

As you say, a 180° version of our fond memories. That's the problem with nostalgia, you face misery when you look at what you loved, with modern eyes. Exhibit A being MTV! But I don't want to get too 'OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD' about this.

[namco]

Speaking of which (Boots):

[smurphboy]

I first saw and played Knight Lore in Boots. They had two racks of computers set up with TVs / monitors and it was about six deep around Knight Lore, no-one had seen anything like it. I think it sold a lot of copies and Speccies that Xmas!

WH Smith was dependable but never great. All the main stream stuff but seldom on release day.

My local Woolies was never really a go to for games, maybe it was later in the 90s but in the mid 80s I certainly wouldn't have bothered.

[toot_toot]

Speaking of which (Boots):

Hah, that brought back memories, I bought Batman (and something else) and got the Batman album by Prince on tape!

Boots was the obvious one, where I lived there was a large home computer section, well it seemed large, maybe it was because I was small. However John Menzies had an absolutely huge games section, massive choice and you could even try out games. Both Boots and John Menzies were great in that you could take back the games and exchange them if you didn’t like them. Except they caught on after a while that the kids were actually copying them, so I often got my mum to exchange them as they never questioned the adults! Boots stopped carrying games in the early 90s IIRC, by then it was the Amiga for me and while John Menzies still carried some games, the places to buy them from were Virgin, HMV and Electronics Boutique.

Woolworths where I lived didn’t carry that many games, only budget titles. The other places that carried budget games were independent newsagents and video libraries!

There are other places like Rumbelows and Greens mentioned in this Imagine advert, but I didn’t have any of them near me when I grew up. But it’s interesting that out of the list of stockists, I think WH Smith and Boots are all that’s left?

https://archive.org/stream/sinclair-use ... 2/mode/1up

[Turtle_Quality]

I used to go into WH Smiths on a Saturday late in '82, and type in

10 Print "GORF is loading"
20 LET L=USR 1311 (or something thereabouts)

RUN

The spectrum would flash the border and make a noise like it was loading indefinitely, you could come back half an hour later and find a small crowd of kids waiting to see this new game finally load

[PeteProdge]

My local Woolies was never really a go to for games, maybe it was later in the 90s but in the mid 80s I certainly wouldn't have bothered.

By the 90s, things had definitely swung in favour of the 16-bits, and I became an Amiga user in 1993. I can't ever remember Woolworths giving a toss about either Amiga/Atari ST/PC in their heyday. I think Boots catered for it, but by then, as gaming matured, you'd get your games from specialists like Electronics Boutique and various independent shops. The days of finding computer games in high street chains were almost over, aside from Virgin Megastore and, maybe, HMV.

[MtM]

Woolies was not really a place we went to buy games where I lived, nor Boots either, or for that matter WH Smiths. Perhaps this was
because we had a couple of good local independents in the 80s that sold games. All three of those shops were within a few meters of each
other in the main town. I did buy an Interface 1 and Microdrive from John Menzies as it was the only place believe it or not who actually
had one in stock, so I do have fond memories of Menzies for that reason alone. That Menzies is a WH Smiths now.

I would add the local Asda to the list. The had a good selection of games and computers set up that we would type rude words
on screen - a timeless classic

Electronic Boutique - hmm, a blast from the past, lots of old shops like that - Silica Shop anyone on Tottenham Court Road
in the 90s? HMV Level 1 on Oxford Road, likewise? Fond memories of those. That metal tunnel you could walk through to get into
level 1, must have cost a fortune. They did used to have a good selection in there though.

[smurphboy]

...Silica Shop anyone on Tottenham Court Road in the 90s?

Yep. bought lots of Amiga and PC gear from there over the years. How about Morgans on New Oxford Street, for end of line stuff.

[PeteProdge]

I did buy an Interface 1 and Microdrive from John Menzies as it was the only place believe it or not who actually had one in stock

One of the most strangest thing in my shopping history, was buying a brand new boxed ZX Spectrum light gun (clearly for the 128K +2A/+3) from a corner shop/off license in a terraced street. It's not like it was just the one, they had a few in, in about 1991 or 1992. As much of a Spectrum fan I am, that was clearly a terrible stock decision. It came with the six light gun games (Operation Wolf being the highlight), and I think I got two hours tops, of entertainment from it. I think I paid a tenner and got change. As hardware add-ons go, it's certainly not the worst thing for the ZX Spectrum.

I would add the local Asda to the list. The had a good selection of games and computers set up that we would type rude words on screen - a timeless classic

Oooh, Asda has only become a nationwide establishment from two decades ago (like Morrison's). Not had any in my locality until the Noughties. The idea of them having ZX Spectrums or even anything ZX Spectrum related, sounds like sheer fiction to me.

Electronic Boutique - hmm, a blast from the past, lots of old shops like that - Silica Shop anyone on Tottenham Court Road in the 90s?

Oh yes, Silica Shop is where I made the transition from Spectrum to a shiny new Amiga 1200. (Look, my +2 had literally blew up, I got by on a £40 second-hand +2A and then gave that away when I knew - thanks to Your Sinclair - for certain the Amiga could allow me - via emulation - to play my Spectrum games. To this day, I maintain that games systems should really commit to backwards compatibility.)

HMV Level 1 on Oxford Road, likewise? Fond memories of those. That metal tunnel you could walk through to get into level 1, must have cost a fortune. They did used to have a good selection in there though.

Oh yes, myself and friends would take trips down into London (70 miles south) via train or coach, just to go into the huuuuuge HMV in the middle of Oxford Street, in the 1990s. Mostly for the music, but there were essential VHS tapes too that you wouldn't get in provincial branches. Although it was in my 'Amiga era' with quite a few Amiga games to buy, HMV definitely placed priority to the console crowd (I hated that, but with hindsight, a sensible commercial decision). HMVs did very well out of the early PlayStation era.

Their closest competitor - Virgin Megastore - was even better for gaming. Well, they did have a stake in that scene!

[MonkZy]

Oooh, Asda has only become a nationwide establishment from two decades ago (like Morrison's). Not had any in my locality until the Noughties. The idea of them having ZX Spectrums or even anything ZX Spectrum related, sounds like sheer fiction to me.

My Nan lived in Gosport and they had an Asda in the 80's. I am pretty sure my copy of Exolon came from that supermarket. My memories of the toy section are mainly of the vast selection of technical Lego however. To be fair though, the Asda was not a town center shop.

[toot_toot]

I forgot another one, Toys R Us. You still get brand new sealed Spectrum games for sale - mostly mastertronic - that have a Toys r Us price on them. I suppose they're not town centre, but they're definitely dead!

[MtM]

Rumbelows as mentioned, another one not remembered for selling games near me, but I do remember in the 90s the chain of their stores being bought out and selling Amiga 1200 packs. Can't quite remember the name of the chain that they became. There was just that flicker of hope for a moment that the Amiga might yet rise from the ashes. Too bad. Still is so sad, out of all the machines of yore, the Amiga is comfortably for me the greatest to have gone under never to return.

My local Asda was not like your typical Asda, I do not know if they sold games nationwide Asda but they certainly did where I lived, and in truth they were pretty good, only the independents run by people who knew a bit about games were better. I got my copy of Eric and the Floaters from Asda. What a brilliant game still.

There was a chain of shops called Microbyte I seem to remember that used to sell games and hardware, long since gone now.

[beanz]

Virgin record stores were the place to go for budget games in Manchester City center as I remember, their own brand and I want to say they carried a lot of Mastertronic games too, I think that's where i bought my first Mastertronic budget game, a tank one as I recall (single screen game where you adjusted the angle of your shot to hit the other tank etc). I'm guessing HMV also sold them but don't recall every buying anything from there.

[PeteProdge]

Rumbelows as mentioned, another one not remembered for selling games near me, but I do remember in the 90s the chain of their stores being bought out and selling Amiga 1200 packs. Can't quite remember the name of the chain that they became. There was just that flicker of hope for a moment that the Amiga might yet rise from the ashes. Too bad.

It was German computer company Escom that bought the Rumbelows chain from its then owner in early 1995. A few months later, they bought Commodore, hence why the shops got very Amiga-centric! Just over a year later, Escom fell into bankruptcy.

[MtM]

Rumbelows as mentioned, another one not remembered for selling games near me, but I do remember in the 90s the chain of their stores being bought out and selling Amiga 1200 packs. Can't quite remember the name of the chain that they became. There was just that flicker of hope for a moment that the Amiga might yet rise from the ashes. Too bad.

It was German computer company Escom that bought the Rumbelows chain from its then owner in early 1995. A few months later, they bought Commodore, hence why the shops got very Amiga-centric! Just over a year later, Escom fell into bankruptcy.

Escom, that is them, thank you, yes, I remember their logo with the red square over the I in Amiga. It seemed liked everyone who bought the rights to the Amiga soon suffered financial ruin afterwards.

Fortunately the new ZX Spectrum Next seems to be on a decent footing financially at the moment, especially this second Kickstarter, even
more successful than the first. Imagine if they ever (very unlikely) got to the point where they were for sale in Currys / Argos now? That would
be mindblowing. For that matter, there are two more highstreet names of large chains who used to sell games software, I can remember
looking at games in the back of the Argos catalogue, probably the 16bit era at that point. Currys before they joined with PC World too.

The greatest advert or seller of games I ever saw was watching Ghostbusters on the C64 being demoed in a local shop. A couple had come in
to look at the computers and the salesman had it loaded and kept pressing the spacebar so it played the sample "Ghostbusters" and that was it, kerching, form an orderly queue! I suppose that was hard evidence of why film-game tie ins were so popular.

[1024MAK]

In the high street in the town where I grew up, we had the following chains that sold 1980s computers:

• Argos
• Dixons
• Boots
• WHSmith
• Woolworth's
• Rumbelows

Apart from Argos, they all had computers on display that you could see working. However the staff in Dixons would watch you very carefully, so I tended not to stay in there for too long.

Now there is only Boots and WHSmith left, as the Argos store closed just before COVID19. The WHSmith store last year had a large amount of building work done to it, so they moved to a temporary store. The original store did reopen before COVID19 though.

I honestly can’t remember which of these I bought games from, but as they were the only place (apart from one dedicated independent computer store that I definitely don’t remember buying any games from), I must have bought games from one or more of them.

Mark