Debenhams has become the latest victim of closures on the high street as the department store confirmed plans to close up to 22 stores – putting 1,200 jobs at risk.
Although it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise – Debenhams has a debt pile of £640m and issued three profit warnings in the past 12 months – customers are feeling nostalgic about the shop which traces its history back to 1778.
We asked HuffPost UK readers and writers to share their fondest memories of Debenhams and they did not disappoint: everything from embarrassing lingerie trips with your mum or mate to using the store as a car park cut-through and stocking up on cake in the Debenhams cafe. That’ll be all of us.
‘I owe Debenhams my Hello Kitty obsession’
My earliest memory of shopping was going to Debenhams in the 1980s when I was six or seven years old. It was in Ipswich where I grew up but we didn’t often shop there – we used it to walk through it to get to the car park. On one occasion I was clutching a pound and spent it on a small pink Hello Kitty ball. My mum said it was a waste of money but I remember how much I loved it. I’m now 41 and still obsessed with Hello Kitty – that’s all thanks to Debenhams.
I live in Reading now and our Debenhams has just been refurbished and it’s made such a difference and is lovely. But we still only use it for the car park. I did buy some Christmas presents from there recently but don’t shop there often. I love the homewares but the children’s section isn’t great at all. Debenhams is confused sadly, with too many brands. Whenever I look it’s nice, but nothing really special or that I couldn’t get elsewhere.
Hester Grainger, 41, from Reading, HuffPost reader
‘The cake was good, but the clothes dated so fast’
In the late 1980s, Bedford was a relatively forgotten county town and Debenhams was the anchor at the east end of Silver Street (the main shopping thoroughfare). For some reason there was a Halifax bank inside the branch where as a 10 year old my mum would take me to get my blue passbook updated with my £10 Christmas cheque from my granny. They’d print off the new balance in a funny little top-loading dot-matrix-style printer.
We’d then head to the cafe for cups of tea poured from a stainless steel pot designed to drip half the tea onto the saucer. A slice of cake on occasion. But that would only come after an obligatory and embarrassing stop by the lingerie department. Even in those days I’d rarely buy clothes in Debenhams, but in hindsight I’m kinda glad I did – they dated so fast they make the best comedy photos from the time.
Graeme Andrew, 43, from Tooting, London, HuffPost reader
‘I still really rate their home department’
Back in the day, Debenhams in Bristol had a music concession, and as a six or seven year old, it was where I was taken to buy my first-ever album – Spice Girls ‘Spice’ (obvs). I vividly remember eating in the café, too, when I used to go into town on the bus with my mum every Wednesday of the school holidays. They used to do ham and pineapple pizza slices that were exactly like the Pizza Hut ones.
As I got into my teenage years, I loved the Envy concession (ah, the noughties) and when I first started getting interested in clothes, I applied for a Saturday job there and was devastated when I didn’t get it. Now as an adult, I still rate their home department and it’s where I get all my picture frames from.
I also used to be strangely scared of Debenhams in Bristol as it has these criss-cross of escalators at the front of the store in front of a five-storey window. I used to have dreams where I would be on the top floor and look over the edge and fall to the floor. It’s a recurring dream that I still get as a 30 year old!
Ashley Percival, 30, from Bristol, HuffPost Entertainment Editor
‘I got my ears pierced there, aged 12’
I have very fond memories of Debenhams from when I was a child. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother but she didn’t drive so we used to go once a week on the train to Guildford, shopping. Our treat was to go to Debenhams and then have a drink and a bun in their café on the third floor, it was also where I first got my ears pierced aged 12, they had a hairdressers and beauty salon then.
When I was 14, I went on my first ‘alone’ Christmas shopping trip, and naturally ended up in Debenhams as it all felt so familiar, almost like a comfort blanket. I remember buying myself a black dress that was totally unsuitable but being really pleased with myself as it was reduced. I haven’t shopped in there for years now – it’s such a tired mishmash of stuff and the staff only look after their concessions so can’t help you on anything else. It’s sad as I guess it really was a true department store at one time.
Alexandria Randell, 52, from Guildford, Surrey, HuffPost reader
‘It was huge, with so many corners to hide in’
I remember so clearly following my mum around Debenhams on a Saturday afternoon – it always felt like she had something she ‘needed’ to buy so we’d spend an hour or so trudging around. Even when it was lovely weather outside and I’d much rather be somewhere else. I clearly wasn’t very interested in the shopping so remember vividly the store itself – the lino floors with curling edges, the lift that was always out of order so we had to climb three floors of stairs to the women’s section on the top floor (I never was good at exercise).
The homeware section was in the oldest part of the building – it was a bit of a rabbit warren, with corridors and little nooks in all directions. I remember it always feeling huge, like there were so many corners to hide in. There was also a ‘secret entrance’ at the back near Laura Ashley (another classic) that I loved using.
Lisa Towers, 32, from Chelmsford, Essex, HuffPost reader
‘I’ve only ever bought underwear there’
Wimbledon got its first shopping mall the autumn we started secondary school – and a third of it was (and still is) taken up with a massive Debenhams. It’s literally at the end of my parents’ road so any trip into town used to take me through it. We were in the throes of puberty, finding our feet with fashion as much as our limited funds allowed. I remember the Topshop concession and the designer lines (Jasper Conran / Matthew Williamson) that sounded sophisticated but almost always missed the mark. Oh, and Red Herring!
The only thing I consistently bought there was underwear – Debenhams’ own brand lingerie beats M&S for cut and style IMHO. I was quite the evangelist back in the day, even accompanying a male uni mate to the Bristol branch to buy his girlfriend a matching set for Valentine’s, though steering him away from itchy scarlet lace to a classier deep maroon set! I also mourn my brilliant blue and white Floozie by Frost French bikini that saw me through six summers of holidays and festivals in my 20s. I was devastated when it finally fell apart.
Nancy Groves, 37, from Wimbledon, HuffPost Life Editor