Sunny Hunny Londis

A look at the Londis shop in Hunstanton, Norfolk.

Londis was created in 1959 and there are over 2,400 Londis shops in the UK. The brand name of Londis came from the words 'London District Stores'.

The Sunny Hunny Londis is still sporting some of the older branding.

Toys R Us at TGJones in Norwich

There's a Toys R Us at TGJones in Norwich city centre.

You can find a Toys R Us concession at TGJones in Norwich, Norfolk. It differs to many of the other new Toys R Us shops I've seen since the return of the brand by having a shopfront of its own next door to the TGJones (formerly WHSmith) that it is housed within.

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 at Hobbycraft.

You can also find Toys R Us concessions at Hobbycraft stores.

Toys R Us in 2026.

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 146 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.

The old Toys R Us.

At its peak there were 105 Toys R Us stores in the UK. 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.

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

Find out more.

Visit the Toys R Us and TGJones websites for more information.

Links:

• Toys R Us
• TGJones

Related blog posts:

• Toys R Us
• TGJones
• Retail
• The end of Toys R Us in the UK

A video shop shopfront

Spotting a 'video shop' in Watford.

I spotted this nice shop sign for GTV TV & Video on St Albans Road in Watford, Hertfordshire on my recent visit to the town.

I wonder how many TVs and VCRs get rented out in 2025?

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

7-Eleven in Thailand

A look at two (of the many many many) 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand.

My brother Christopher and his family had a summer holiday in Thailand this summer. As 7-Eleven convenience stores can be found across the country they popped into quite a few. Here's a couple of snaps of two of the 7-Eleven shops in Khao Lak.

There are more than 13,000 7-Eleven shops in Thailand!

Emily has also been to some 7-Elevens this year too, and spotted this closed 'gold' 7-Eleven in Chicago, USA earlier this year.

The closest I've been to a 7-Eleven in 2025 is the 8-Twelve in Nottingham last month!

Find out more.

Visit the 7-Eleven Thailand website for more information.

Related blog posts:

• 7-Eleven 

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

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

Video Years in Leeds

Spotting a video shop in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

We spotted a sign for the Video Years video shop while having a wander round Leeds city centre on our recent trip to the city.

Video Years has a niche of being a video shop specialising in skateboard VHS & DVDs! It's also housed within a head shop!

Find out more.

Check out the Video Years website for more information.

Related blog posts:

• VHS
• Retail
• Shops
• Leeds
• Video rental shops in the UK (July 2025)

A 7-Eleven in Chicago

A look at a gold signed, but closed down, 7-Eleven in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

The closed 7-Eleven at the Heyworth Building on East Madison Street in Chicago

This 7-Eleven had a fancy looking gold sign

The 8-Twelve in Nottingham

A visit to the 8-Twelve in Mapperley, Nottingham.

Not a 7-Eleven

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

If you're in Rugby, and you feel hungry, who you gonna call...

...Gutt Busters!

We spotted Gutt Busters on a visit to Rugby in Warwickshire back in 2014.

A video rental shop in 2025: Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds

There's a video and DVD rental shop in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

While visiting family in Bury St Edmunds last year we spotted the sign for Northgate Video & DVD - a video rental shop!

We returned last week and were pleased to see the shop was still there.

Unfortunately the owner was on holiday until after we left so we didn't get a chance to have a browse and perhaps buy some ex-rentals.

We've spent the last few years documenting the last traces of Blockbuster Video stores here in the UK, and we've found some other video shop signage on our travels.

Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds is one of only a handful of video rental shops still in business in the UK. Long may it continue!