A now demolished building on the corner on a central Liverpool street was for years one of the most popular meeting places in the city.
The Radio Rentals building, also known as Cousins Corner, on Lord Street was demolished in the to make way for the building of Liverpool ONE. It's likely you'll now recognise the corner as the site of the colourful Costa Coffee opposite Debenhams.
Cousins was a local confectioner employing nearly 3,000 people on Merseyside whose founder, Ernest Gibson, died aged 95 in 2010. The confectioner opened his first bakery shop in Aigburth Road in the 1940s, where the baking was done above the store.
READ MORE: Liverpool's first internet cafe opened before Google or Facebook even existed
READ MORE: Nine features lost from Liverpool city centre in past 25 years you've probably forgotten about
After selling his first cake from the tiny shop he was soon joined in the business venture by his brother, Eric, and they soon started to expand the firm. The business quickly established itself on Merseyside and by the the mid-1970s, the company was a household name, with more than 100 shops and coffee bars.
At its height in 1980, it was reported that the business had 400,000 customers in their shops each week. The reason it was called Cousins was because at one stage, the family had a cousin as a sleeping partner in the development of the business.
But its the large Cousins Corner shop on the the corner of Lord Street that most people in the city will remember as a popular meeting spot. One famous former patron, TV star Paul O'Grady, spoke earlier this year of his memories of the confectioner on Lord Street.
The presenter from Tranmere held various jobs in Liverpool in his early adulthood. Paul first worked as a clerical assistant for the DHSS at their Liverpool office, before becoming an assistant clerk at Liverpool Magistrates' Court.
He later worked as a barman at Yates' Wine Lodge, an accountant in an FMC Meats Merseyside abattoir before spending three years at Children's Convalescent Home and School in West Kirkby.
For more nostalgia stories, sign up to our Liverpool Echo newsletter here.
Now living in Kent, Paul frequently speaks about his love for Liverpool and the surrounding region. In an Instagram post, he reminisced about his time working in the city and how he would eat lunch at Cousins Corner on Lord Street.
Sharing a picture of Cousins Corner, Paul said: "I was sent this. It’s the Radio Rentals Building with Cousins cafe/restaurant underneath.
"I suppose only people from Merseyside will remember this but when I first started work in Steers House I used to spend my luncheon vouchers in here and for 30p you got a tinned salmon bap, a cup of tomato soup and a fizzy drink.
"It’s all gone now to make way for Liverpool ONE. By the way, a bap is a bread roll. #cousinscorner."
Cousins Corner was once such a popular landmark in the city, advertisements for shops and businesses in the area used to mention how close they were to it in advertisements placed in the Liverpool Echo. Now, thanks to shopfrontelegy's photo archive, images of the building and historic corner of the city have been preserved.
When a photo was shared of Cousins Corner on the popular Old Photographs Of Liverpool Facebook page in 2018, several people took to the comments to share their memories.
Join our Liverpool memories and history Facebook group here.
Carole Lewis, posted: "Me and my mate always went there for ice buns and a cup of tea on Saturday afternoon after shopping (1964/66), I can still remember the taste! But the cups, probably fresh from the dishwasher, always used to squeak on my nails and went right through me!"
Lynn Thompson, said: "Loved Cousins, had a shop were I lived also a county bake shop my favourite was a hot sausage roll and a cake. Proper treat!"
Does Cousins Corner awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
Margaret Cubbin, reminisced: "[I] worked there early '80s. Had Cafe's both upstairs and downstairs and, also, we used to sell ground coffee in the takeaway shop. Loved the smell and working in that little bit..."
While Mike McAsey, posted: "I can remember going in to this café with my dad, circa 1973. We had these cob rolls with ham and butter.
"We only had margarine at home. I can still taste them now. Delicious."
READ NEXT:
- Liverpool's 80s music scene, lost nightclubs and the legends who performed there
- Lost Liverpool restaurant where a former President of the United States once dined
- Heavy snow that caused 'chaos' across Merseyside over a decade ago
- Teen beauty queen Christine McGuiness in stunning throwback photos
- Incredible images show changes to Liverpool city centre since Google car first came to town
