Huge demolition of TJ Hughes is underway after being a favourite with thousands of people in Liverpool and across the country.
The department store began back in 1912 when it opened in a different building on London Road with five shop assistants.
But within 20 years the business had grown into one of the city's biggest department stores with over 400 staff.
READ MORE: Revenge attack dad stormed flats with knife, broken pool cue and can of petrol
Now, demolition has begun on the building after plans were submitted to convert Audley House into a new residential complex with 266 apartments.
The proposals came as demolition works began to get underway next door on the former Hughes House, which will see it become home to almost 250 apartments.
Following the news of its demolition this week, we have decided to take a look back at the history of TJ Hughes and what it looked like during its glory days.
The success of TJ Hughes was a testament to founder Thomas J Hughes' hard work and vision.
In 1933, over 20 years after establishing his first store, it appears Thomas J Hughes's mental health declined, with some speculation it was not helped by the stress of overwork.
On April 14 that year, the ECHO reported Thomas J Hughes had died after taking his own life aboard a steamship travelling to Belfast.
Close friends told the press that Hughes had developed a strangeness in manner in recent months, his health strain having made his leisure time insupportable. His decision to travel to Belfast had been spur of the moment and he had been expected to spend the weekend at his home at Easedale, Meols Drive, West Kirby, with his wife and three children.
The body of T J Hughes was never knowingly found. His name is recorded on a family memorial in Liverpool’s Anfield Cemetery.
Despite his death, T J Hughes' name lived on and the department store became known as one of the best and most loved bargain stores in the city.
Photos from our archives show shoppers queuing outside the London Road store on Christmas Eve morning, 1992, as they eagerly awaited it to open.
By 2011, there were 57 TJ Hughes stores across the UK. However, in that same year the company went into administration and shrank to just six.
Since the company emerged with new owners in 2011, those six stores continue to trade under the T J Hughes brand in stores located in Liverpool, Eastbourne, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sheffield and Widnes.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
