Readers of the Salford Star are always reminiscing about shops that lined Regent Road, Broughton Road and Whit Lane, back in the day, or the original Eccles Cake shop and Tony Wilson's dad's tobacco shop.
In the present day, Mo's little convenience store on Chapel Street is battling on the front line of regeneration, while we particularly miss the cheap ink and computer store, Blue Inc and Marks and Sparks on the Precinct. Now, a project by Manchester Metropolitan University is looking for everyone's fave shop, ever.
Unfortunately titled 100 Manchester Shops but covering everywhere in Greater Manchester, the organisers are asking people to nominate shops, big or small, long gone or still open, to be preserved forever on an interactive map and possibly for an exhibition at Central Library in Manchester for spring 2019.
The bloke behind the top idea is Professor Jon Stobart, who came back to the area for the first time in many years when he took at a job at the University in 2015 and was struck by how much had changed.
"I have a long-standing interest in retail history and these changes really stood out to me" he explains "Exploring some of these through a study of the shops and shopping streets of Greater Manchester seemed an obvious and interesting way to re-familiarise myself with the city and its various boroughs.
"Rather than writing my own history of Manchester shops, I felt it would be more revealing and fulfilling to ask the people of Greater Manchester to write their histories, which is what this project is all about" he adds.
Working alongside him is Michala Hulme, local historian and Lecturer in History at Manchester Metropolitan and in partnership with Manchester Archives.
"This is a collective piece of work to gather the shops that people feel are important – maybe to the development of Manchester, to a particular borough or community, or to them personally" says Michala "The shops might be large high street stores or corner shops; places that are still trading or that disappeared decades ago; famous landmarks or forgotten treasures. The key thing is that people see them as important in some way."
Shops already added to the map are the Corn Exchange, United Cattle Products Restaurant in Pall Mall and Pauldens (Debenhams) on the corner of Streford Road and Chatham Street – but none in Salford.
Just visit the 100 Manchester Shops website, nominate a shop and add some memories, info and photos –see www.100manchestershops.com/
Nominations are open from now until 30th September. Once complete, a panel at the University will decide the top ten favourite shops from across Greater Manchester to be placed in the exhibition.
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