Inflatable advertising in Bredbury, Stockport

A piece of inflatable advertising in Stockport.

Last year I spotted a piece of inflatable advertising at the Super Shine Hand Car Wash in Bredbury, Stockport. On a recent drive to Hyde I noticed that the red and yellow inflatable character had changed to a blue and white one!

While it's not an airdancer (aka a 'wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube-man' - my favourite type of inflatable advertising) it's still fun to see it flagging down passing drivers to get their cars cleaned.

Related blog posts:

• Airdancer
• Inflatable advertising
• Some inflatable advertising in Stockport
• Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube-man

Video:

• Inflatable advertising at the Super Shine Hand Car Wash in Bredbury, Stockport

Toys R Us at TGJones in Stockport

Toys R Us is now open at TGJones in Stockport.

The rebrand of the former WHSmith shop in Stockport took place last month, and part of the changes to the shop in the Merseyway shopping centre saw a Toys R Us added!

The end of WHSmith, and the start of TGJones.

The start of July 2025 marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years. Following the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year WHSmith shops have been undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones.

WHSmith on the high street, and travel stores.

There were around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. are not affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

As well being inside the rebranded TGJones shops, the relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some travel hub WHSmith stores.

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene with an online presence in 2022 and with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops in 2023. There are currently 95 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

Working at Toys R Us.

My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton Toys R Us store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.

Meeting Geoffrey at the Stockport Toys R Us today!

The old Toys R Us.

It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited several of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

Find out more.

Visit the TGJones, Toys R Us and WHSmith websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Related blog posts:

• TGJones in Stockport
• TGJones
• Toys R Us
• WHSmith
• Retail
• Stockport
• Merseyway
• Mascot

Links:

• Toys R Us
• TGJones
• WHSmith
• Merseyway

TGJones in Stockport

TGJones is now open in Stockport.

The rebrand of the former WHSmith shop in Stockport has taken place.

TGJones has opened its store in the Merseyway shopping centre in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

The new TGJones in Stockport town centre is now also home to a Toys R Us!

The end of WHSmith, and the start of TGJones.

The start of July 2025 marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years. Following the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year WHSmith shops have been undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones.

As the shop in the Merseyway looked when it was still a WHSmith in July this year

WHSmith on the high street, and travel stores.

There were around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. are not affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

As well being inside the rebranded TGJones shops, the relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some travel hub WHSmith stores.

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene with an online presence in 2022 and with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops in 2023. There are currently 95 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

The shelves were still being filled on my visit

Working at Toys R Us.

My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton Toys R Us store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.

The old Toys R Us.

It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited several of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

Find out more.

Visit the TGJones, Toys R Us and WHSmith websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Related blog posts:

• TGJones
• Toys R Us
• WHSmith
• Retail
• Stockport
• Merseyway

Links:

• TGJones
• Toys R Us
• WHSmith
• Merseyway

Toys R Us at TGJones in the UK

There's a Toys R Us inside the TGJones in Cambridge.

The start of July 2025 marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years. Following the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year WHSmith shops have been undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones.

WHSmith on the high street, and travel stores.

There were around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. are not affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

As well being inside the rebranded TGJones shops, the relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some travel hub WHSmith stores.

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene in 2022 with an online presence and in 2023 with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops. There are currently over 90 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

Find out more.

Visit the TGJones, Toys R Us and WHSmith websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Related blog posts:

• Toys R Us
• TGJones
• WHSmith
• Retail

Junkyard Golf Club advertising in Manchester

A look at some Junkyard Golf Club advertising in Manchester.

I spotted this advertising signage at Junkyard Golf Club at First Street in Manchester on a walk round the city yesterday.

Playing at Junkyard Golf Club in Manchester.

The three courses at Junkyard Golf Club in Manchester became the 795th, 766th and 767th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we attended the launch party at First Street in 2017.

Junkyard Golf Club first popped up at the Great Northern Warehouse before moving to Piccadilly and has now settled into its permanent venue at First Street.

Junkyard Golf's First Street venue in Manchester was the last course I played before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown back on the 9th March 2020!

Find out more.

Visit the Junkyard Golf Club website for more information on the Manchester location.

You can also find Junkyard Golf courses in Leeds, Liverpool, London, Newcastle and Oxford.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've now been to 1,099 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006!

When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the British Isles.

Related blog posts:

• Junkyard Golf
• Junkyard Crazy Golf on the tube
• New advertising for Junkyard Golf in Manchester
• Junkyard Golf advertising in Manchester
• Junkyard Golf minigolf advertising in Manchester

TGJones in the UK

A look at two new TGJones shops in Leeds.

We saw our first two of the newly branded TGJones shops while in Leeds recently.

The start of July 2025 marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years. Following the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year WHSmith shops have been undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones.

A sign at TGJones in Leeds city centre

WHSmith on the high street, and travel stores.

There were around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. are not affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

It'll be interesting to see how the sale and rebrand affects the relationship between Toys R Us and the two brands. The relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some high street and travel hub WHSmith stores, so I imagine there'll be Toys R Us concessions within both TGJones and WHSmith shops too...

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene in 2022 with an online presence and in 2023 with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops. There are currently over 90 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

Find out more.

Visit the WHSmith, TGJones and Toys R Us websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Related blog posts:

• From WHSmith to TGJones
• WHSmith
• TGJones
• Retail
• Leeds

A wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man at Birch Garden Centre in Cheadle, Stockport

Spotting a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man in Stockport.

We were pleasantly surprised to see this wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man advertising at Birch Garden Centre while driving through Cheadle on Sunday morning!

We've seen quite a few wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-men on our travels over the years and they're always fun to spot and see what they're advertising.

Related blog posts:

• Airdancer
• Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-men

Summer Mini Golf in Slough

There will be a Summer Mini Golf course event in Slough, Berkshire at the end of this month.

Slough BID have organised a Summer Mini Golf event with a pop-up course set-up in Town Square, Slough on Tuesday 29th, Wednesday 30th and Thursday 31st July. 

Find out more.

Visit the Slough BID website for more information.

Happy National 7-Eleven Day

It's National 7-Eleven Day.

Today is National 7-Eleven Day!

7-Eleven convenience stores celebrate National 7-Eleven Day on when else but the 11th July.

The first 7-Eleven Day was held in 2002.

From WHSmith to TGJones

Changes are afoot on the UK high street with TGJones replacing WHSmith.

The WHSmith branding will be changed to TGJones on the remaining stores UK high street stores.

WHSmith in Oldham (April 2025)

Yesterday marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years.

WHSmith shops will be undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones. This follows the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year.

One of the WHSmith travel hub shops that will remain - this one is at Manchester Piccadilly railway station (April 2025)

There are around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. will not be affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

It'll be interesting to see how long the rebrand takes and what a TGJones store looks like. We've got a WHSmith in Stockport town centre, so I'll be keeping an eye on that.

I wonder how many years after the rebrand we'll still be seeing remnants, relics and ghost signs of the WHSmith brand on the high street?

Have you seen a TGJones store yet?

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

Toys R Us at the WH Smith shop in Salisbury in December 2024

It'll also be interesting to see how this affects the relationship between Toys R Us and the two brands. The relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some high street and travel hub WHSmith stores, so I imagine there'll be Toys R Us concessions within both TGJones and WHSmith.

Toys R Us at WH Smith at the Trafford Centre in September 2024

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene in 2022 with an online presence and in 2023 with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops. There are currently over 90 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

Find out more.

Visit the WHSmith, TGJones and Toys R Us websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Watermelon Specialists

As today is Summerween - a day to carve a Jack-o-Melon - here's a look at one of my all-time favourite niche businesses.

Logman Ltd - a business on Caledonian Road in London that specialises in watermelons

Games and fun at the King Pins Arndale Summer Mixer

Attending the King Pins Arndale Summer Mixer event in Manchester.

I attended the King Pins Arndale Summer Mixer business networking event at King Pins in the Manchester Arndale Centre yesterday for an evening of competitive fun and games.

King Pins Arndale recently celebrated the venue's first birthday and I've previously been there to play the minigolf course on my Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (in October last year in a match-up versus my fellow minigolf adventurer Tom Loftus from the USA), and Emily and I have swung by for drinks and a bite to eat there too.

The indoor Mini Golf course at King Pins

This time I got to play Tenpin Bowling, Ice-Free Curling and Tech Darts - what a triathlon!

I hadn't had a game of tenpin bowling for ages, and while I only got one strike I did hit quite a few nines and spares.

One of the two Ice-Free Curling rinks

I'd never played Ice-Free Curling before and I really enjoyed it.

Ice-Free Curling gets the thumbs-up from me

King Pins has two curling sheets in their rink! Playing in two teams the match got very competitive, with plenty of strategy and tactics brought into play.

A well placed stone

Curling is similar to boules/petanque in the scoring and gameplay - another one of those games that is easy to pick up and play, but very tricky to master!

There was plenty of drama and action in our curling match-up!

We finished the evening with the Tech Darts where we were able to play a range of different games, as well as games of 201 and 501, with the tech taking care of the scoring for us. It was a reminder for me to get my dartboard up at home as I haven't played for quite a while and my 'arrers were pretty rusty!

King Pins is a nicely set-up space with plenty of room to enjoy the games with your group, without knocking into or overlapping with others. While me and the other attendees of the event were playing there were lots of other groups, couples and families visiting the venue for a game or two.

Ten needed...

...double 5 got

As well as the tenpin bowling, tech darts and ice-free curling King Pins Arndale also offers a packed arcade in the basement, shuffleboard (and bank shot shuffleboard and tech shuffle), a batting cage, duck pin bowling, wild west shooting, and karaoke booths!

I'm looking forward to playing more Ice-Free Curling in the future

The darts area has three tech dart boards and plenty of space around the oche

If you haven't yet been, I recommend a visit to King Pins for yourself. Even if you're not playing any games it's a chilled out spot to get a drink and relax for a while during a shopping trip at the Arndale.

As well as the Arndale Centre venue in Manchester, you can find King Pins locations at the Trafford Palazzo in Manchester and Bristol. The new Glasgow King Pins opens later this month, with the Leeds location opening in August, and a Belfast King Pins opening soon!

I'm still yet to have a go on the Hungry Hungry Hippos arcade game - it looks very cool

Check out the King Pins website for more information.

Many thanks to the team at King Pins for organising the free Summer Mixer event. It's always nice to get out and about, meet new people, and network. And it's a real bonus if the venue is as fun as King Pins!