These are just a few that called the popular street home
One of Liverpool’s city centre’s best-known streets, Bold Street has long been a haven for a number of amazing shops and restaurants. Like many of our popular streets, a lot has changed over the years, from welcoming new businesses to seeing others rebrand, move or even close their doors for good.
But that doesn’t mean they are forgotten and generations don’t still share fond memories of them. More recently, the ECHO took at look back at Morgan’s Famous 50p Store – which, as its name explains, sold hundreds of items that cost 50p each.
Many ECHO readers took to our Facebook page to share their memories of the loved shop, which got us thinking about other Bold Street institutions loved years ago that are still well remembered. Here, we take a look back at a number of businesses on Bold Street you’ll likely remember from the 80s and 90s.
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These are just a few The ECHO have looked back on more recently. And in some cases, these businesses continued to operate beyond the 80s and 90s.
This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive, we’ve included just a number of venues that once called Bold Street home in the 80s and 90s. But you can see how many you remember in our list below.
Café Berlin
If you think of Bold Street in the 1980s – Café Berlin is sure to spring to mind. Once one of the coolest venues in the city, it was a regular haunt for Liverpool’s musicians and artists.
Dawn French even made an appearance there in the 80s, as she recorded an episode of Channel 4’s Swank. That same decade, Channel 4’s The Tube, hosted by Jools Holland and the late Paula Yates, came to Liverpool and filmed Thomas Lang performing at Café Berlin on Bold Street.
One images, courtesy of our archives, captures outside the venue in 1985. Standing outside are Roger Hill, Jeff Learman and a number of musicians.
The cafe was once situated at the top of Bold Street and now home to The Kassap Meat House. But it still fondly remembered by those who went there.
Teddies
In the early 1980s, “Liverpool’s first Fast Food Store,” Teddies, opened its doors on Bold Street. It was director Tony Ryan who established the American-style concept with his brothers Charles and Geoff and many will remember visiting Teddies for burgers and triple thick shakes and spotting its bold logo consisting of a teddy bear with a flag.
The family, originally from St Helens, were inspired by Tony’s then recent trip to America where fast food was “all the rage.” Inside, the site boasted huge wall mirrors, potted plants and a vast menu.
Open six days a week, the 80-seat store had prices that were “highly competitive.” In 1984, Teddies sold a hamburger for 59p, fries for 30p and coke for 32p.
Arguably ahead of its time, there was an emphasis on hygiene and recycling. Hamburgers came in paper, cups were disposable and cutlery was absent. Today city centre venues Wimpy, Harvey’s and Teddies are no more -but many will remember heading to the Bold Street venue and it being their first experience of a fast food burger.
Morgan’s 50p shop
Morgan’s Famous 50p Store – which, as its name explains, sold hundreds of items that cost 50p each – first opened its doors in 1983. Owned by Chris Morgan, the concept of selling all goods, ranging from toiletries to tools and food to stationery for the same price – 50p – was unheard of, the ECHO recently reported.
Chris, a former market trader, “took a gamble” when first opening, but a £50 advert in the ECHO saw a queue down Bold Street and staff limiting the number of people coming in. By the 90s, the business was selling everything from tools to toys, housewares, ornaments, toiletries, silk flowers, cigarette lighters, baby items, electronic pocket calculators and more.
But in 1999, the shop as we came to know it changed. On July 15, the ECHO reported how Chris was merging Morgan’s 50p shop with its sister store All For One, on the other side of Bold Street – where most items were £1.
For the dedicated bargain hunters, there was a closing down sale where 50p items were half price. It’s now been years since customers shopped at Morgan’s Famous 50p Store, but it still lives on in the memories of those who went there.
The Lyceum Restaurant/ Café Bar
Spanning more than 25,000 square feet, The Lyceum was constructed in 1802 and boasts a long history. But many will remember in the 1990s when part of the site was home to a café and a restaurant.
At the time, businessman Rob Gutmann said he had no previous experience in the industry, but took the risk with the business venture when the Post Office, who bought the building in 1984, were looking for a tenant for part of the space. Hoping to offer something different to Liverpool’s hospitality scene, Rob and his dad Mike first opened the Lyceum Café Bar in December 1994.
A few months later, the Post Office agreed to let more space for a restaurant. Located next door to The Lyceum Café Bar, The Library Restaurant took inspiration from the building’s history.
In October 2021, Jungle Rumble, which runs mini golf venues in London, Glasgow, Briston and Brighton, submitted a formal planning application to Liverpool City Council, that would see it convert the ground floor and basement of the central part and south east end of the Lyceum into a mini-indoor golf and entertainment centre. It opened earlier this year.
Coopers Food Hall
It’s now been more than 25 years since Coopers Food Hall first came to Bold Street. Officially opening on July 25, 1996, the butchers and green grocers was a popular spot with shoppers, the ECHO previously reported.
Located at 65 Bold Street, today, the site is home to LEAF. But it was master butcher Kevin Birchall, who opened his first butchers shop on Mill Lane in Old Swan in the 1980s, who was the man behind the popular food hall that came to the city in the 90s.
On site, customers could also get fresh poultry, sandwiches, groceries, fine wines, exotic fruit and vegetables and more. For years, many will remember heading to the food hall and in some instances, trying certain foods for the first time.
In the 00s, we said goodbye to Coopers Food Hall. But the site remains and has a long history in the city.
Index
In 1985, Littlewoods introduced the nation’s high streets to Index catalogue stores. Many of the stores were attached to traditional Littlewoods stores, but others were stand-alone stores – including one on Bold Street in Liverpool city centre.
Like Argos, the stores operated in a similar way, and became a one-stop-shop for items such as jewellery, toys, electronics, furniture and beds. From mundane everyday purchases like picking up a new kettle, to ordering yourself the latest plasma TV, Index aimed to take some of Argos’ massive market share by supplying it all in the quickest possible way, the ECHO previously reported.
Many ’90s kids will remember the momentous days when the new Index catalogue came out, especially around Christmas time, when the pages would be chock-full of the latest toys, bikes and gadgets to salivate over. In 2005, it was announced that the retail outlet would close, resulting in 3,200 job losses across the country.
The news saw stores in Liverpool, Liscard, Widnes and Ellesmere Port close with 126 sites in total closing across the UK, including 33 stand-alone outlets which were bought up and converted into stores of its triumphant rival, Argos. But many still remember the Bold Street shop.
