To make things a little clearer, when I said "plant stores" I meant plant stores. "Nurseries" still abound around here, but the stores that used to sell only house plants (& perhaps flower pots made by hippies) when macrame was "in" are gone. Too bad, as they used to have the most unusual ferns.

I don't recall ever seeing a "plant store". No wonder they're gone. How can anyone stay in business offering such a limited selection of plants. I have seen florist's shops that look like they could be house plant stores, some so fancy you think you're in a boutique with all the accesories and they sell, even furniture.

Here's a link to a florist shop in town. If you click on the two photos on the right "accessories" you can see pictures of what I'm talking about. These kinds of stores are beautiful to browse through, even if you aren't there to order flowers the way they've decorated the front of the store is really beautiful. They even had a dining room set up with all their gorgeous flower arrangements on display. I wouldn't mind working in that shop, I could stand there all day just admiring the decorations. Stores like this are few and far between.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bob Gillmore's Flowers and Home Accessories

Remember music stores anyone?

If I had children I bet they would think I grew up on another planet when I talked about hobby shops, candle stores, and playing on Red Rider wagons one local place used for shopping carts. Every place is the same now, sanitized of all local flavor.

I think a person could probably live without ever leaving home now. Sad really. How many hours do we shop on the internet completely unaware that we are staring at a glowing screen in an empty room. If the time didn't display in the lower right hand corner of my screen, I wouldn't even know. But really, when I am on the computer, I don't want to know. It reminds me that my life is clicking by so fast.

I miss the smell of the candle stores.

In my rather small town in NW IN we do have several floral shops and a grocery that carry things like the Gilmore pictures above show, we are fortunate. They do have lovely gift items and things for the home. Ofcourse, we have the two national craft stores mentioned above plus Walmarts galore, I am within 10 mi. of three of them. But the actual center of town so many of the cute little shops of thirty yrs. ago when I moved here have gone by the wayside. I suspect they couldn't compete with the stores at the Mall as far as prices and selections so they had to close. I guess this isn't too unusual the way times and things change and now the internet shopping.

Posted by johnmari: *sigh* WHY is it that it is pretty much impossible on this forum to have a discussion about shopping that doesn't devolve into a snark-and-snipe-fest about Walmart?"

I have never started a "snark-and-snipe-fest" about Walmart. In fact I have NEVER mentioned Walmart before now, and don't recall any other threads in the Home Decorating Forum discussing Walmart, but maybe I just did not click them on to see them.

The OP wanted to know where to buy houseplants. Walmart has them for sale. Lowes and KMart have them but a very small selection. Customer service at all those types of places sux. You either have to know exactly what you want and how to take care of it, or "ya just take yer chances".

I suppose I could have suggested that the OP go buy houseplants at trendy Target but Target dose not sell house plants.

The Walmart by me has a HUGE room with electronically controlled doors, that whoosh open when you pass by. The room is kept very humid and is filled with houseplants. No employee is stationed there to help with selections. You just pick out your plants and take them out of the room to the checkout up front.

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Posted by kfca37: "To make things a little clearer, when I said "plant stores" I meant plant stores. "Nurseries" still abound around here, but the stores that used to sell only house plants (& perhaps flower pots made by hippies) when macrame was "in" are gone. Too bad, as they used to have the most unusual ferns."

In my area just about every grocery store sells houseplants and has a floral section for buying cut flowers too. They have part time staff to help customers with selections. They are always middle aged women who usually have some knowledge of plants.

I've even seen gas stations selling roses and other cut flower arrangements, along with those little Exotic Angel brand houseplants. The selection is small but the quality is surprisingly good. No "special orders" though. You just buy what is out on display.

The two oddest retail shops I recall were "the button shop" and "the gag gift shop".

The "button man" had this tiny place chock full of old(new) buttons, still on their cards, from the 1930ties thru the 1950ties. I have no idea where he purchased his stock (this was in the 1980ties/90ties). Probably from old retail stores being remodeled or torn down, & the buttons were long ago forgotten, but then found, in a storeroom. He also kept eccentric store hours---one never knew when or if he would be open on a particular day. His little store sometimes got written up in local newspapers because of its unusualness. His prices were very reasonable. Was still open up to about 15 years ago, but I "think" its gone now.

The "gag gift store" was particularly odd as it was in a relatively sophisticated shopping area. If you wanted your whoopee cushion, wind-up walking lips, or things of that ilk, this was the place to go. It was a fun place to stop to see what was new. Bad taste galore. Needless to say, it was mainly popular with men & boys. Haven't been in that area recentky, but I'm sure it's gone too.

There are still 2 "Barber Shops" in our town, but it seems as those are one of the demising businesses. Small "Drug" stores are few and far between around here too. When I was small I remember my mother sending me to the drugstore, with a note to the owner/pharmacist, for cigarettes and a purple box of kotex, (which she had a code word for, "marshmallows"). Funny when I came in to the store and asked for marshmallows, our friendly druggist promptly put a "box" in a brown paper bag and off I went thinking we were going to toast them on our gas stove.lol.
Next door to that was a little store that had a counter where you could order a coke for a nickle and it came in a cone shaped cup in a little metal holder, or an ice cream cone for a dime with jimmies! Then there was the "Chinese Laundry" next to that where my best friend practically lived,they had a room in back where they cooked and there babies slept while they worked on shirts and pressers.
Sorry to go on, but this thread brought back a lot of memories.
This thread has brought

kfca37, have you been to San Anselmo (North Bay)? DD1 lives close by and I found four favorite shops last time I visited. The prices were not high in two of them (other too were not as reasonable, but not outrageous) and the selections were nice. Both were comparable to here - Birmingham, AL. We have many antique stores in the area, thank goodness, or I would have to move somewhere else!

I don't go to Target or Wal-Mart often, but both of mine have houseplants. Target only a very limited selection. We have 2 great locally owned houseplant shops (of course the have outdoor flowers too, but no shrubs).

I miss the counter where we could pick a balloon to find out how much we were going to pay for a banana split. McClellan's I think was the name of the place. A neat 5 and Dime store.

Haven't been to San Anselmo in several years, but we used to go over there fairly frequently, particularly during the Christmas season. I still have an upholstered wicker chair in the LR from one of their myriad antique shops..I think our only actual purchase. Is "The Collective" still around?

I certainly didn't any of see this as a "snark-and-snipe fest about Walmart" either. Mari, I guess we could also ask you why you seem to rush to the defense of Walmart! ;-) Honestly, we're just discussing stores - and Walmart is one, so nobody is out of line here.

Anele, I do understand the points that you make. The consumers do indeed drive the business forward, but as I said, I still think there's a good deal of that 'vicious cycle' aspect to the whole thing. I personally don't care for Walmart (due to many of their practices that I don't wish to go OT into here), but I cannot say that I've never shopped there. I have in a pinch, and I don't blame others for shopping there.

New York City still has a ton of these odd little stores. I don't know how a lot of them stay in business. For example, we were walking around on the Upper East Side recently and noticed a store that sold models (planes, cars, trains, etc.). That's it. A tiny, dark, wood-floored shop run by an older guy.

There's another store in that neighborhood that only makes keys.

When we needed a part to fix the windows in our apartment up there, we looked in the phone book under "Windows" and found a store in lower Manhattan that sells anything to do with windows and doors. They had the exact part we needed.

How about hat stores? They are disappearing. my DH is follicularly challenged and needs to wear a hat most of the time so he doesn't get sunburned up there, and it's been really hard finding stores that sell hats that aren't baseball caps.

Sheet music stores are also vanishing. People order everything from the Internet now, cheap shipping, no sales tax, at your house in a matter of days. Patelson's in New York closed this past spring; it was a real institution (on the same block as Carnegie Hall). We actually have a music store in our neighborhood that's been here for 60-some years; I wonder how long they will stay afloat? I really like browsing and comparing different editions before I buy, so I usually go there to see if they have what I want first, to support the business.

Harriet, do you live in NYC? Fabulous city...the world's greatest!

As for stores, it just seems like everything looks so much alike these days. It's great that mass production has brought so much to the masses, but the cost we pay for that access is hum drum quality & lots of repetition! It's hard to find something truly unique anymore. Maybe it's that unique, personal flavor that kfca is lamenting when she speaks of missing certain stores. Things just did used to be more personal. A whole generation knows nothing about that certain "something special" in the atmosphere, service & merchandise that used to be found when we went shopping!

And banks seem to be sprouting up everywhere.

While I'm between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, I tend to shop in Albuquerque, as DH's practice and many of my friends live down there. We also have a wonderful small town closer to us that we try to use for as many things as possible. I hate to see those Mom & Pop places close!

While there's a Home Depot and Lowes close enough, we love to patronize our local little hardware store whenever we can. They not only have most everything we ever need, but they're wonderfully friendly, their prices are reasonable and they are so darn knowledgable! On the other hand, my village's local little grocery store is modern, beautiful (read Yuppy-ish), but the prices are very high and the produce is usually wilted. They do have an excellent wine section, though.

Albuquerque has sadly lost several great plant nurseries in the past year or so, probably due to the competing plant departments at the Lowes and HD. But, our best nurseries ~ High Country Gardens (where Jen orders her plants from, I'm guessing) ~ are still around and thriving. I'm sure this is because the quality of their plants is excellent, due to being grown here in this area. Our climate and growing conditions here in the Southwest demand strong, heathy plants that are already hardened to our climate.

We have quite a few fabric stores, but they're pretty much the chain stores, Jo Ann and Hancock . . . and the big ones in the local Hobby Lobbys. Most of the smaller mom & pop one's closed years ago.

Craft stores? Hobby Lobby and Michaels are very big out here. I can't remember the last time I saw a M&P one.
But, I refuse to get into the good Walmart/bad Walmart debate. IMO, whether you patronize or don't patronize the big box stores is a private, personal decision and I respect everyone's right to make their own choice.

Our local economy is still fairly good, due to us being a safe, beautiful destination state for vacationers around the state, our country and the world. It's also the home of INTEL who employes thousands, and New Mexico now a big go-to place to make movies these past few years.

But, several auto delarships have closed this year and my best friend, who's an artist, tells me that people are not buying art like they used to . . . and New Mexico is a HUGE artists' and art buyers' mecca. My favorite antique shop closed last year and my new favorite looks like it's not doing too well either. Santa Fe used to have a fabulous flea market every weekend in the parking lots of the Santa Fe Opera (gorgeous!), but it moved due to who-knows-why and the new one is pitiful and filled with junk now. Sad!

So, even places like this, whose economy is still pretty good, are starting to see many great businesses close their doors. It makes me wonder if we'll ever have those many, wonderful options again.
Lynn

Yesterday, I wanted to stop in at a photo shop that a few years ago did some prints of 40-some-odd-years-old slides for me. It did a nice job, so I was going to ask about whether it could put about 150 old slides on a CD or DVD for me. Turns out the shop is only open on weekends, and on weekdays only by appointment. And when I peeked in the front window, it appeared to be a much smaller shop than I remembered (there was a redevelopment of the shopping strip, so it looks like it was subdivided and a nail shop took half the space.

So that's my nominee: Full-service photo shops. Now more people either send their film out to be mail-order developed (if they still use film), or take it to CVS. And digital-camera users either print their own, take the memory card to CVS/WalMart/etc, or don't print and just upload to Shutterfly or wherever.

stinky-gardener, no, I don't live there -- would like to, I think. We have a little apartment there that we are renting out to a tenant, for now (long story). We do go up there a few times a year for fun, but stay in a hotel.

You know what I hate? Dollar stores! We have three of them in our neighborhood, and they are dumps. You can barely breathe in there because of all the plastic off-gassing.
One used to be a Woolworth's; it's now jammed full of cheapo junk. (Hard to believe that we now remember Woolworth's as being a purveyor of quality merchandise!)
There was also an old-fashioned hardware store that finally bit the dust.

I believe The Collective was one I liked - more cottage style things. On the right side of main road (Sir Frances Drake) just before big intersection (I think Red Hill Ave/Rd????)

Did anyone mention record stores? OK, so I'm really marking myself as a relic by bringing them up, but I have such fond memories of browsing through row after row of 45s and LPs at "Musicland" when I was a kid/teenager. I remember when cassette tapes arrived on the scene, and they were relegated to one very small section in the store. We walked by them and kinda sneered, thinking those newfangled things would never take off.

After we browsed at "Musicland", we could walk next door to the t-shirt shop and select a design like this:

Oh, my. How things have changed since then!

I miss browsing through and looking at the album covers and reading the liner notes. Looking at CDs is not the same, nor is buying tracks from i-tunes!

anele: "snipe" in this context means to speak maliciously. And trust me, I've been through enough of these threads that something like auntjen's "It may seem true that nobody is forcing people to shop at gunpoint; however, in a sense, Walmart is forcing it by undercutting everyone else. They're huge and have the leverage to pay very little overseas for what they in turn sell cheaper in their stores." almost inevitably sends the thread down the road of "Walmart is the root of all evil and is totally responsible for the death of all other retail establishments and China-China-China which is of course the #2 root of all evil" (yes, I'm speaking with slight hyperbole to make a point). I'm just wondering with some frustration why it always has to go in that same predictable direction. Envision hands flung up in the air.

And as for Jen's following comment about my "defending Walmart"... no, I'm grumbling about a repetitive behavior.

dilly_dally, please do indicate where I said YOU started a snark-and-snipe-fest about Walmart. Just because I make a generalized comment and then afterward respond to a completely different statement that happened to be made by you doesn't mean the two are necessarily related. Sorry if I confused you by agreeing with something you said.

auntjen, I remember those t-shirt shops! Our local mall was set up in a Y shape and there was one of those shops at the end of each leg (arm?) of the Y so the whole mall smelled like a strange combination of melted plastic and Orange Julius. One of them was all pink-glitter-clouds-and-unicorns (next to the sticker store, another fad that has fallen by the wayside), one was more of the "head shop" type next to the ethnic clothing store with the visible incense clouds and all the embroidered stuff from India that was labeled "one size fits all" and didn't fit anyone at all :-) and the third was mostly the stuff for the metalheads - they could put studs and rivets on your jean jacket there too, I remember the stud setting thingy going BAMBAMBAMBAM when I worked at a nearby store. (And I'm dating myself right there with you, spending an afternoon flipping through the records - people still look at me weird because I still always say I want to buy so-and-so's new "record" - at one of the half-dozen record stores I frequented.) Yes, I was a bigtime mallrat, always working at the mall, since that's where the bus went.

Well, the way I see it, if anyone objects to "snark-and-snipe fests" about Walmart, they don't have to partake of them. ;-) You know I love ya, Mari - I just don't see why we should be "spanked" for speaking ill of a certain store, no matter if it has already been done ad infinitum.

But enough of that.

I too remember the "aroma of days gone by" at the mall. I spent so many hours there as a teenager, as it was most definitely THE thing to do to roam from one end to the other and all points in between with girlfriends (or the occasional boyfriend, if you happened to have one) on weekends during the school year and just whenever during the summer. Orange Julius ... I actually miss those things! Karmelkorn too. Video arcades (I think some malls still have them, but they're a lot different than they used to be, which was filled predominantly with pinball machines). I remember a pizza restaurant in the mall -- not just a kiosk in the food court, but an honest-to-goodness, walk in and sit down and order, with waiters and everything. My 12-year old self (and friends) developed a pretty hefty crush on a couple of the guys working there, who were probably just out of high school, spoke heavily-accented English, so we convinced ourself they were straight from Italy, although they clearly had more on their minds than giggly, pre-pubescent girls. Like 20-year old women. ;-)

I will also never forget riding the elevator in J.C. Penney's with my girlfriend Kim, both of us screaming at the top of our lungs all the way to the second floor. When the elevator door opened, there stood a security guard, demanding to know just what our problem was. Of course, we were mortified, but managed to giggle about that incident for weeks afterward.

Individually-owned or small chain hardware stores and lumberyards.

Hobby shops; not craft shops; the ones that used to sell higher-end game, models, model airplanes, trains, etc.

I am in VA, anyone remember the restuarant called "The Hot Shops" It was the best food and I miss it even 7-8 years later!!!!

Boy, you all need to move where I live. We have a large hat store, 'A to Z Hardware', 'Hills Flat Lumber', and a great Hobby Shop that sells trains, model airplanes and high end games. Three fabric stores, one is new. A locally owned independent Crafts store and lot's of places to buy Danskos, Berkies, Keens and most other comfort shoes. Our sports store (we're close to skiing) is called 'Mountain Air'. They carry most everything that the chain stores carry.

OH! We have independently owned bicycle shops who sponsor bike races that attract over 80,000 people. Lance Armstrong just raced here in June (he won.)

Of course, the closest mall is around 50 minutes away (no traffic but most miles are on a two lane HWY). There isn't an elevator or escalator in town. LOL!

There aren't any chain eateries like Applebee's but we are well known for our great restaurants and theatre. Like I said, we are a victorian era tourist destination in the heart of the 'Gold Country'. We have Bed and Breakfast places to stay along with historical hotels and the new 'Gold Rush' style Holiday Inn, that costs over $300. per night.

Just got an email from someone via the garden web that lives close to me. Woo!

"You can barely breathe in there because of all the plastic off-gassing." ROFL! You've got a point there, Dollar stores make WalMart look like Bloomies in comparison. ;-)

FWIW...I like WalMart, that and Target are where I go to buy all the stuff I don't expect to have a year from now like laundry detergent and toilet bowl cleaner. I don't wish for their demise at all. They have their place like the boutique stores have theirs, I just prefer their paths not cross. :)

Jen, I wasn't "spanking" anyone (that would be much more entertaining ;-)), I was virtually banging my head against the wall. Pick a wall. Any wall. Even the walls that Paris Hilton thinks they sell at Walmart. :-)

The mall two towns over from me was the first one in the area by quite a bit, and it was out in the middle of NOWHERE (not anymore!)... going to the mall was supposed to be a Family Occasion, so the food court was much less dominated by fast food than by attempts at real food. There was this awful Bonanza-like "steak house" and a Friendly's, which is a lot like Howard Johnson's used to be. (I still miss the stuffed baked potato stand!) In my state you could get a work permit for summers only at 14 and then during the school year at 15 and you betcha I had my permits the day I was eligible. The public transportation system was (and still is) horrible here, but it did go out to the mall which meant if you didn't have a car that's where you went. Most of the stores and restaurants downtown were places younger people didn't really want to work anyway, or that didn't need many employees. Of course, this being the mid-80s, if you were even semi-conscious you could get a job at the mall! LOL

You do know how to make a fake Orange Julius though, don't you?

I mentioned this thread to DH and he said two words: Piggly Wiggly. Piggly Wiggly was the first self-service, one-stop supermarket back during WW1 - no more going to the greengrocer and then the baker and then the butcher and then the drygoods store and then the milk/cheese shop (not everyone had it delivered) just to do the ordinary marketing. I imagine people had exactly these same sorts of discussions 90 years ago about how Piggly Wiggly was just going to run every other store right out of existence... :-)

Never heard of a "plant" store or a WM with a plant room. Both of our Targets sell plants. Fortunately we have a lot of nurseries. Would love a Trader Joes! Still have a few antique stores, but theyÂre more common in the small towns surrounding Baton Rouge and a little further south in New Orleans.

Kfca, thereÂs a button store about 30 miles north of here in a small town called St. Francisville. Maybe not so "odd" after all, lol. Grandmother's Buttons

Judie, thereÂs an independently owned drugstore right next to the barber shop where dh gets his hair cut. Unfortunately, the neighborhood hardware store burned down a couple years ago and was never rebuilt.

In my 20s I lived in a small town in central MS. Worked at a head shop (those were the days, lol) and bought $5 albums in a record store around the corner.

IÂm not crazy about WM, but for some things the price and convenience is hard to beat.

Individually-owned or small chain hardware stores and lumberyards.
Hobby shops; not craft shops; the ones that used to sell higher-end game, models, model airplanes, trains, etc.

Jason, you need to break through your dislike of the south and come see me. We have Cahaba Height Hardware and Little Hardware in Mtn Brook Village - better known as Little to us.

For toys, we have Smith's Variety (four doors down from Little) and Homewood Toy & Hobby Shop. Sounds like you'll have more fun at Homewood T&H, (R/C Planes & Ships, Train's, Playmobil Toys, Plastic Models, Lionel Dealer) so we'll go there first.

Then I'm taking you to eat some good southern cooking. Bring LM. :)

Hey, Peyton Road: Do you read the Washington Post? If not, do a search for "Metropolist" on its website. Every so often, the "Metropolist" column runs in the Metro section. It includes letters from readers reminiscing about stores, restaurants (like the place you remember; that was before my time), etc., now gone. When I read the column, I lament that I missed some of those places (mostly the restaurants, which seemed to have fabulous desserts!).

I checked out Grandmother's Buttons & that place bears no resemblance to "my" place. Fancy jewelry made out of expensive buttons? I don't think so. A "Button Museum" on the premises? Hardly. This guy's shop was old, dusty & had thousands of carded buttons with the imprinted original dime store prices of 10 & 15 cents which he sold for maybe a dollar or two. Grandma is a Fake!

Well, obviously "Grandma" isn't (or wasn't) a fake. ALL Grandmas are real. She obviously just had more elegant "button taste" than my guy.

Posted by natal: "Never heard of a "plant" store or a WM with a plant room. Both of our Targets sell plants."

Our Walmart has 'em. And they are loaded with Tropicals to purchase for the home. Maybe in your Southern climate the Tropicals are kept outside? There is a big difference between Zone 8 where you are, and Zone 4.

I wish our Target had plants or a nursery. I bet Target would carry more than the other chain stores do. Just about all they carry are the common Hosta, Daylillies, (Stell d'Oro anyone?) and Spirea, that you see planted at every gas station and burger joint.

I am curious...........what sort of selection of plants does Target carry. I may approach the Target in my area and complain that they do not carry plants like the other Targets. Maybe they will start offering them here if enough people show interest.

Pammy, I do read the post and do see those letters, Yes the desserts were awesome! Thanks for posting

I wish it would come back.!

I remember Hot Shoppes Cafeterias. The last one was in Marlow Heights (not far from where I grew up) and closed some years back.

Another eatery that's long gone is Howard Johnson's. I loved the big carafe of coffee they would bring to the table and the hot fudge sundaes (any flavor of ice cream you wanted -- my favorite was pistachio).

A faux Orange Julius?

OK - spill it!
;-D

Dilly, yeah down here all the plants are kept outdoors year round. The Targets sell a combination of house plants and bedding plants. No shrubs or trees.

AJ, this is the recipe, or close to it, that I've always seen. Never tried it.

How about Dobbs House & Toddle House? Best hamburgers, pecan waffles and omelets in town.

Oh, yes. All those mall stores. Orange Julius, Morrow's Nut House (any candy store for that matter). I also miss Hickory Farms/Swiss Colony, although they usually appear in kiosk form around the holidays.

Record stores, music stores (pianos, instruments, etc.). I even have trouble finding card stores now.

Camera stores seem to be the latest casualty.

Thanks, natal! Wowzers, what a lot of sugar it has! As stated in the link, that's undoubtedly why it's so yummy!

When I visited my grandma in Scotland - the local shopkeepers would send around small trucks that had a variety of goods and you could buy them from the truck! The local greengrocer (vegetables and fruits) and the hardware store; also the baker (mostly fresh loaves of breads and buns) and even the "corner shop" had a truck. My grandma would head out of the house with her change purse and buy what she needed that day. If I was there -- I was rewarded with bags of crisps (chips) and bars of Cadbury's chocolate.

Of course in England there used to be butcher shops; fishmongers; greengrocers. ((and a fish-and-chip place on every corner ..... LOL!! mmmmmm ..... plaice and chips -- piping hot with malt vinegar and salt))

And hat shops! And ladies dress shops! And shops for "unmentionables" (undies! LOL) Then in larger towns and cities -- there are REAL department stores!

Jan

Krispy Kreme just closed another store in Maryland.

Jakabedy, there's a Hallmark at The Summit and one at Brookwood Mall....or has it closed? I never go into the mall. Only hit Macy's now and then. Does The Galleria have one? There are a lot of cute cards at my local UPS Stores. I bought a ton at the car wash on Lorna Rd years ago. lol Smith's Variety (both locations) have a ton of cards too.

teacats - I lived outside London back in the mid-80s and I would grocery shop day-by-day at the small specialty shops. You just gave me pangs for fish and chips. Have never had any like 'em here and no longer try.

goldgirl -- we lived near Eton and Windsor in the 70s. Lots of great shopping when we went UP to the City. (LOL! on the old trains with the individual doors on each compartment!)

There was Harrods (of course!); Peter Jones; Fortnum & Masons (for tea); Biba (long gone but "ever so smart!") -- and just off Sloane Square -- my favorite -- Laura Ashleys! And got our hair cut at Vidal Sassoon's salon on Sloane Square!

Of course -- Marks & Spencer for sausages and tea and various biscuits (cookies)

Jan

Jan - did you ever eat at Cranks? (not sure if it was around then.) I used to work at the one above Peter Robinson department store at Oxford Circus!

I got my hair cut at the Vidal Sassoon school - they'd do it for free if you let them do what they wanted.

And Harrods. Sigh.

Jan, do you recall a crooked little old tea shop in Windsor? My mom and I popped in there on our visit and had afternoon tea. I cannot for the life of me recall the name of the place, but it was charming. And the little old building leaned, a bit like the Tower of Pisa. :-)

Actually, I just answered my own question! LOL! It's called "The Crooked House", naturally! ;-)

Spent a lot of time at the Two Brewers pub -- and the Castle hotel (yes -- just across the way from Windsor Castle) .....

isn't that a wonderful tea shop!!!! Can't recall it though ....

Jan

I love Fortnum & Masons. Harrods was interesting as well. Jen, didn't you enjoy going to Windsor? I also enjoyed a large bookstore in London near our hotel. I don't recall the name.

Allison, we thoroughly enjoyed Windsor. Thinking back, I had forgotten that my brother accompanied Mom and me on that trip. We got up early one morning and took the train out of Paddington to Windsor, had lunch in a nice little pub, toured the castle, had tea at the aforementioned shop, and poked around in some of the stores before time to board the train back to London.

It was such a cold and dreary day. I will never forget as we were leaving, walking down one of the streets and heading to the station to catch the train. The north wind was blowing fiercely, our eyes and noses were watering, and we were all three a little bit jealous of those who were already tucked up, nice and warm, inside the various homes that we'd walk by, lights twinkling from within.