WE ALL know our beloved high streets are in peril, with the rise of online shopping, free returns and next day delivery - shopping from the comfort of your sofa has never been easier. 

But what about those afternoons and weekends we used to spend walking up and down the high street trying to find the best bargain or perfect pair of shoes... 

From rummaging through the rails at Wildings to getting pick n mix after school from Woolies, which stores and memories do you miss the most? 

Woolworths

South Wales Argus:

One of Britain’s most quintessential high street stores has got to be Woolworths. 

As kids we used to run in after school to grab a bag of pick n mix whilst tasting the odd one as we went. 

Mum’s always referred to it as ‘Woolies’ and no back-to-school shop was complete without stopping into the store.  

Woolworths used to be on the corner of Commercial Street and Charles Street. 

Dixons

South Wales Argus:

The electrical store Dixons was once on Commercial Street. 

The store has now merged with Carphone Warehouse and no longer has any standalone stores. 

Timothy Whites 

Timothy Whites was a chemist and houseware store that first opened in Portsmouth in 1848. 

From then, it went on to have over 600 stores up, including one on the High Street, until the chain was bought by Boots in 1968. 

Beatties Model Shop 

South Wales Argus:

The much-loved model toy shop was a tinkerer’s dream, from toy cars to model railway sets and lots more. 

Beatties stores were all over the UK with lots of children, fathers and grandads running to their nearest store at the weekend to get a project to work on.

Back in the day, having a Beatties Club charge account would make you the envy of everyone in the playground or even pub.

Wildings

South Wales Argus:

Wildings was Newport's oldest department store, it played a prominent role in the city centre since 1874. 

The store was originally set up by 21-year-old Alfred Wilding, who came to Newport from Shropshire to set up as a hatter catering for the new merchants who had arrived for work at The Docks.

The store sadly closed its doors in 2019. 

Blockbuster

South Wales Argus:

Our grandchildren will never know the excitement of a Friday night trip to Blockbuster to rent a few movies for the weekend. 

Before the likes of Netflix and TV on-demand, Blockbuster was the place to go to choose what to watch and get some perfect movie snacks. 

There were Blockbuster stores across South Wales, including one in Spytty Retail Park. 

The film, TV and games rental company went into administration in 2013.  

If we have missed your favourite by-gone shop, let us know in the comments!