Long before the era of shopping centres and online orders, the streets of Birmingham thrived with independent shops, family-run businesses, and bustling department stores that created strong for generations.
For many Brummies, memories of these places are stitched into their sense of the city.
We’ve taken a step back in time to see Birmingham’s old stores around the city centre. Take a look here:
1. circa 1900: A shopping arcade in Birmingham
A shopping arcade in Birmingham. | Getty Images
2. Cashier, 1939
A shop assistant working at the cash desk in a Ladies Hosiery department store in Birmingham. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images) | Getty Images
3. Corporation Street in 1962
February 1962: Winter's fruit and vegetable shop on Corporation Street, Birmingham, England. (Photo by Marshall/Fox Photos/Getty Images) | Getty Images
4. Bull Ring Centre, Birmingham, 14/11/1963. Dignitaries touring stalls during the official opening of the retail market at the Bull Ring Centre. On 14th November 1963, the retail market at the Bull Ring development was opened by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Alderman Dr. Louis Glass, JP. The new retail market replaced the old Market Hall building, which was originally built in 1835 but had suffered serious damage from an air strike in the Second World War. The general section of the new market housed 154 stalls, with a further 42 in the separate fish and poultry section. The dignitaries shown in the photograph are Lord Mayor of Birmingham, the Lady Mayoress, and Councillor Mrs Nan Smith, Chairman of the Markets and Fairs Committee. Artist John Laing plc. (Photo by Historic England/Heritage Images via Getty Images)
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