Growing up in Sunderland: Remembering the sales at Binns, Joplings and other much-missed shops
You know what the start of a new season means? It’s time for a trip to the sales.
Our look-back at sales shopping in the 1970s really got you talking, so we wanted to know: What’s the best thing you ever bought in the sales at one of Sunderland’s department stores?
Did the Echo ever snap your photograph in the sale queue at Joplings on Boxing Day, or were you one of the first browsing through the clothes racks at Blacketts when prices were cut?
Binns, Blacketts, Hills, Joplings, Liverpool House and Woolworths were some of Sunderland’s favourite shops in their time, but was there another store near the top of your list for a visit as soon as sale season arrived? You can visit and join our Wearside Echoes Facebook group here to tell us what you think and share your own fond shopping memories.
We asked for the most memorable items you bought in the sales. Here’s some of what you remember:
Lesley Nichol: “I bought six crystal wine glasses in the Joplings sale about 40 years ago. Got three left still.”
Tom N Marian Walker: “Not in the sale but I bought a full-length sheepskin coat in Blacketts. I absolutely loved it.”
Carolann Brown: “Bought my wedding shoes at Blacketts, they were white patent leather, cost three guineas. I loved those shoes and wore them to death.”
Margo Lax: “Bought a beautiful coat in Binns the day they closed. A totally sad day.”
Glorious Scents: “A black, hand-sewn sequin designer dress reduced from £150 to £50 from Binns and a 100% wool jacket from Joplings! I also bought my first-ever set of steamer pans there which I’m still using today and they’re still in great shape. Not bad for 40-plus-year-old pans!”