Toys R Us at Festival Retail Park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent

A visit to the old Toys R Us store at Festival Retail Park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

We made a trip to the old Toys R Us store at Festival Retail Park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent back in September 2020.

This was shortly before the location became a Go Outdoors store.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018.

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 a number of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

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

Former Toys R Us locations we've visited on our travels:

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gateway retail park in Reading
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• St James Retail Park in Northampton
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wolverhampton Road in Oldbury
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

The last Woolworths shop in the UK closed in January 2009 so it was brilliant to see this frontage looking fairly unchanged!

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

We first spotted the store in Longton while driving through the town in 2019 and returned in 2020 for a closer look. We were very surprised to see the branding still in place.

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Adventure Mini Golf at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent

A look at the Adventure Mini Golf course at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire

Adventure Mini Golf at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent

A BIG thanks to our friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge for sending us some photos from his visit to the new Adventure Mini Golf course at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent.

Adventure Mini Golf at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent

He didn't have time to play it this time as he was there for a trip to Waterworld with his family.

Adventure Mini Golf at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent

Adventure Mini Golf at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent

Adventure Mini Golf at Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent

Adventure Mini Golf in Stoke is home to two 18-hole adventure golf courses. It's the sister-course of Adventure Island Mini Golf at Star City in Birmingham - a course we've played a lot of tournaments at over the years.

We've been to Stoke a few times, but not since the new Adventure Mini Golf course opened. We'll swing by on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

Check out the Adventure Mini Golf website for more information.

Video Future

Spotting an old video shop in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.

Video Future!

You can also see the remains of a Woolworths store on the main street in Longton. It's quite a sight to behold in 2020!

Toys R Us in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent

A look at the old Toys R Us store at Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

I've never seen cleaner and brighter signs on an abandoned shop.

There are three large branded Toys R Us signs on the store, this is one of two on the side of the building. They differ from the more commonly see signs as the brand name is printed onto one board, rather that the lettering being made out of individual 3D pieces

Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK in April 2018. I worked there back in the year 2000.

I was once one of Geoffrey's Helpers at Toys R Us

It was a lucky find as this month the unit will be opened as a Go Outdoors store and so the Toys R Us branding will be disappearing.

This scene won't be the same next month and the Toys R Us branding will be lost forever

Remains of other Toys R Us stores

We've also been to the abandoned Toys R Us in Warrington, Cheshire and had a look at what remained of the old store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester.

Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

A look at the old Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.

Anyone want some Woolies Pick n' Mix?

A view of the shopfront on Market Street

The last Woolworths shop in the UK closed in January 2009 so it was brilliant to see this frontage looking fairly unchanged!

Lovely to spot this extra piece of old branding hidden in plain sight on the shopfront

It won't be like that for too much longer though as work is going on inside the unit and it'll soon be a totally lost store.

A look inside the store

A view down the side of the store in Longton Shopping Centre

The secondary entrance / exit

Woolies in Longton

We first spotted the store in Longton while driving through the town last November. We were very surprised to see the branding still in place.

Woolworths Big W

We had a look at an old Woolworths store in Brunstane, Edinburgh back in August 2011. That was the Big W Woolworths store at The Jewel retail park.

Adventure Mini Golf opening in Stoke-On-Trent

New Adventure Mini Golf centre opening in Stoke-On-Trent.

A brand new Adventure Mini Golf venue is opening next to Waterworld in Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire.

For more information visit the Adventure Mini Golf website.

The two-course, 36-hole indoor adventure golf centre is the sister site of Adventure Island Minigolf at Star City in Birmingham. We've played there many many times over the years, including a number of tournaments and leagues.

------------

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Newsletter archive and sign-up to receive future editions

The British High Street, November 2019

Spotting a dead brand on a high street.

On my travels I always keep my eye out for interesting sights and while Emily and I were driving through Longton in Stoke-on-Trent I spotted a Woolworths!

Woolworths in Longton

The last Woolworths shop in the UK closed in January 2009 so we were amazed to see the sign was still up.

The Woolworths on Market Street in Longton closed its doors for the final time on the 30th December 2008.

Looking online the former shop had an 'interesting' and 'alternative' use earlier this year!

On a related old retailer note I recently had a look at the old Blockbusters store in Fallowfield, Manchester.

Crazy Golf at Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on-Trent.

While driving to Leicester on Sunday Emily found another miniature golf course for us to visit, so we took a slight detour to Fenton in Stoke to have a look for it.

Crazy Golf Land! The UK is certainly a land full of courses

The Crazy Golf course at Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke became the 902nd course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

It's amazing that after 13 years of our crazy golf travels we can still be shocked by what we find!

Having a wander round the course we were struck with how crazy the layout and obstacles looked.

The Crazy Golf course in Fenton is loopy!

It was only later that we realised that the course had been set up so that each hole was in the shape of a letter and the 9-holes spelled out the words CRAZY GOLF!

This is a C

We have seen that before on some fibreglass Crazy Golf courses, but never on a permanent, landscaped course.

Clearly an R

A

Z

Y

G

O

L

F

We noticed that hole 1 (C) used boules as obstacles! We're big fans of Petanque too so this was fun to see.

Hole C/1 and the Petanque obstacles. Crazy!

Four boules

Two boules

One of the boule obstacles

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Crazy Golf
- Staffordshire