The Girl in the Red Shoes

These boots were made for walking,

but not very far.

The temperature here is well short of the 40° C in France and Spain.

But in the shopping centre most people are glad of some shade.

Hard times on the High Street.

Along with most towns and cities throughout the UK,

Plymouth City Centre has a growing number empty shops, 

as retailers, large and small, can no longer cope with rising costs and falling customer footfall.

Baubles, Bangles and Bright Shiny Beads.

"Girls just wanna have fun."

Click to see the original Cindy Lauper video

Sails on the Super Store

It is very rare to find an out of town shopping shed where any attempt has been made 

to do anything other than stick the company name above the entrance.

These "Sails" adorn the frontage of Sainsbury's at Marsh Mills, on the outskirts of Plymouth.

Click here to see what the architect had in mind 

One of the most obvious examples

of the changes that are taking place in the City Centre,

is the staggering rise in the number of Tattoo Parlours. 

 

Drake's Circus Shopping Mall

The tills were ringing out on Boxing Day

Seasonal shopping resumed after a one day break.

Cheap and Cheerful

"Back by popular demand."

Now there's a phrase you never see in a Cartier window.

A Portrait Gallery

I came across these colourful portraits, the work of children from a nearby Primary school, 

in the stairwell at a small city centre shopping arcade.

Signs of improvement in the economic position of the city

are a long time coming.

One person's cast offs ......

 ......... become another's Retro Treasures.

38 days to go, and counting.

The Christmas Shopping Season seems to get longer every year.

Bric-à-brac

I came across these two interesting stalls at a recent "antiques" fair.

Do try to keep up!

Anyone would think those bags are heavy.

Retro (2)

Just about every town centre in the UK has at least one large shopping mall.

Once inside their brightly lit, modern interiors they all seem identical.

Some lucky cities have been able to restore and  integrate examples 

of their original Victorian and Edwardian shopping arcades into their central shopping areas.

I was recently in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, and greatly admired these arcades,

and wished that something of their kind had survived the wartime destruction of the centre of Plymouth.

Cool shades

In Step