The 1990s and 2000s were probably the last gasp for the high street as we know it.
That 20-year period was a transitional time during which online shopping went from non-existent in 1990, to niche in 2000, to commonplace by the end of 2009. By the dawn of the 2010s, near comprehensive online-only stores like Amazon and virtual marketplaces like eBay had taken a vast share of high street trade.
High street businesses, whether chain stores or independent shops, have always come and gone. But the impact on centrally located shopping centres has been profound and permanent. High street businesses have been forced to provide a service which cannot be provided online or cater to an ageing demographic that doesn't shop online.
Read more: 11 things you could do in Leeds in the 1980s but can't do now
Leeds city centre has changed a fair bit above street level with centres such as the Trinity and Victoria Gate replacing ageing malls and public buildings. The skyline is markedly different with high-rise student and yuppie flats shooting up from the ground. But the stuff at street level – the shops – has changed most significantly.
Before you think, "not another article about lost chain stores", we've already done that. Here we open the bedroom window, waft out the stale smell of Woolworths-based nostalgia and let in the fresh scent of independent shop-based reminiscence.
Here we celebrate the local family businesses Loiners loved and lost in the 1990s and 2000s. And for good measure, we've included a couple of chain stores notable for their short life and questionable choice of location.
Ark
Opening in 1992, Ark was where organisers of the house and garage night of the same name – usually held at Leeds Polytechnic – sold their tickets. But the Corn Exchange shop diversified into selling then-alternative clothing brands and its own Cloak brand.
Sports chain JD Sports bought Ark out of administration in 2013 but all five physical Ark stores and its online store had closed by 2016.
Lillywhites
This four-storey sports store – the largest outside London – opened on the Headrow in 1996. The shop opened with a sumo wrestling match and a Queen Elizabeth II lookalike. Really.
1980s Liverpool ace Ian Rush, Yorkshire cricketer Darren Gough and world champion golfer Colin Montgomerie signed autographs in the store the same year. It wasn't to be though, as the store, which replaced the city's original Lillywhites in Trinity Street Arcade, closed six years later. Lillywhites still exists online and on Regent Street, London.
Music Ground
This store on Call Lane was the daddy of vintage guitars where you could see walls of rare instruments only surgeons, CEOs and bonafide rockstars could afford. Or so it seemed.
Music Ground folded in 2011 after the company was found to have sold instruments stolen from a vintage guitar shop in Italy. Buyers complained of receiving fake, 'cut and shut' guitars.
The building is now occupied by two bars: Call Lane Social and Power, Corruption and Lies.
Stolen From Ivor
This oddly named jeans and youth fashion mini-chain was founded in Manchester by Ivor Hazan. But during its 1990s peak, you could find a Stolen From Ivor on Briggate (pictured above). It's now an EE phone shop.
Two Wheels Good
This cooperatively run bicycle shop, on Call Lane, made its own bike frames upstairs. It's now a cocktail bar called Neon Cactus.
Wendy's
The American fast-food chain last year announced plans to open stores in the UK. It isn't the first time Wendy's has made a foray into the UK market.
The chain had a presence in the UK in the 1990s including a restaurant on Briggate. Wendy's left the UK in 2001, citing property costs and other overheads. It's now a Jollibee fried chicken shop.
There are a clutch of Wendy's once again in the South East but none in the North as yet.
Vend
This shop in the Corn Exchange sold art – from vending machines. You could insert a few coins into repurposed snack vending machines and pick up watercolour and oil paintings, plus jewellery.
Porcelain, papier-mâché and other works which wouldn't withstand the drop into the collection drawer thankfully weren't on the menu. Toffee Crisps and KitKats still were.
A novelty it may have been but Vend's heart was in the right place. All proceeds went to the artists themselves.
Wisdom
This skate shop around the back of the Corn Exchange was something of a legend in Northern skateboarding circles in the 1990s and 2000s. The skateboarder-owned shop was where you went for boards, skate videos and the latest skater hoodies and trainers.
Another independent skate shop was Exit in the Corn Exchange.
Woodcock Travel
This family-owned Yorkshire travel agent had a shop on Bond Street. The company folded around the turn of the millennium.
The building is now occupied by a Skipton Building Society branch.
- The 'Headingley cowboy' who rode the Leeds city streets in full western gear
- Photos from when the Queen visited Leeds
- 15 more lost Leeds schools where we spent our childhoods
- 11 more lost Leeds schools where we spent our childhoods
- The forgotten Leeds landmarks lost to bad planning, rising costs and modern demands
