Schofields Department Store - 1980s Photos

Nell · Post by **Nell** » Sat 25 Sep, 2010 9:22 am

Ooooh!! does anyone remember the santas grotto at schofields. They were always in competition with Lewis's over the road lol.I remember one year they always put the grotto at the back of the kids dept... logocally. But when i was about 7 so maybe xmas of 79, they did this grotto which was amazing to me as a child. It was a long black room all lit up with fairy lights, there were little buildings and models of villages and they hung glass baubles from the ceiling on nylon. There were just hundreds of baubles, all lit up to make them look like bubbles. It was the most magical grotto i had ever seen and still have acutally cos they are total pants these days. But it was the most magical place i had ever been when I was 7.

exiled in essex · Post by **exiled in essex** » Sun 17 Oct, 2010 6:53 pm

What brilliant photogaphs - I used to love going in Schofields as a child, it was the 'posh shop', we always believed it to be posher than Lewis's! Not that Lewis's wasn't posh but Schofields was posher.I used to work with a woman who told me that she used to take her fur coats to the fur department in Schofields and they had a service where they would store them for you over the summer, in the correct conditions, and you'd collect them when the weather became colder and you wanted to wear them again. You just couldn't imagine that nowadays but an awful lot of ladies owned a real fur coat or two back then!

45man · Post by **45man** » Sun 17 Oct, 2010 8:09 pm

I have a memory as a child being mesmorised by some type of huge machine in the entrance by the lifts I think.If I recall correctly you had to put money in it,but for the life of me can't remember what you got in return.Anybody else know what I'm on about,or have I lost the plot completely!.

STICKS · Post by **STICKS** » Sun 17 Oct, 2010 9:36 pm

Hey mexico chris that brought back many happy memories when my late mam use to take me into town great well done .

jaycee · Post by **jaycee** » Sun 13 Oct, 2013 4:02 pm

Hi everyone,I worked at schofields in the 70s and 80s.I remember mr Bradbury he was a proper gent.I worked in lots of departments .I worked for the infamous MISS PAGE on perfumery.I loved it.I have the brass plate taken from the entrance when it was demolished.I remember Shirley who worked underground were the lamson tubes were sent.In the posted picture of staff is linda who worked on Revlon,denise salmon from gift dept,bernice and Margret from handbags.When I started there I was lunchtime staff.I moved around the depts. filling in.There was Lesley fraser,Murial smith wensley,joan shields,and botty.We used to dread photography because we didn't know what the hell we were talking about.The boss on photography was joe liversedge and his wife pat worked on stationery.They were great times ,I couldn't wait to go to work.

Johnny39 · Post by **Johnny39** » Sun 13 Oct, 2013 4:50 pm

I can remember in the cafeteria they did a "Blue Plate" and a "Green Plate" but I can't remember what the difference was. Can anyone help?

brownage · Post by **brownage** » Mon 14 Oct, 2013 9:19 pm

I remember all those people. those were great times. I worked in the ticket off and Display department with marlene, Leo, Gordon. Had some fantastic times and absolutely loved working there. Such a shame that it closed down.

brownage · Post by **brownage** » Mon 14 Oct, 2013 9:21 pm

Not too sure about the blue plate and green plate. I think it had something to do with having salad with your meal or not.I remember the paternoster which was unique, still got a few memorabilia from schofields. There will never be another store like that again.Such a shame

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Tue 15 Oct, 2013 9:18 am

jaycee wrote: Hi everyone,I worked at schofields in the 70s and 80s.I remember mr Bradbury he was a proper gent.I worked in lots of departments .I worked for the infamous MISS PAGE on perfumery.I loved it.I have the brass plate taken from the entrance when it was demolished.I remember Shirley who worked underground were the lamson tubes were sent.In the posted picture of staff is linda who worked on Revlon,denise salmon from gift dept,bernice and Margret from handbags.When I started there I was lunchtime staff.I moved around the depts. filling in.There was Lesley fraser,Murial smith wensley,joan shields,and botty.We used to dread photography because we didn't know what the hell we were talking about.The boss on photography was joe liversedge and his wife pat worked on stationery.They were great times ,I couldn't wait to go to work. Chance of a pic of the brass plate for us to see on here?

brownage · Post by **brownage** » Tue 15 Oct, 2013 10:06 am

Mr Bradbury was a great guy to know and definately a gent. I worked as part of the team in advertising and window displays with Lynsey, Paul, Brenda and then there were us in the ticketing office. Those machines were massive and very old hahah. There was also Gordon, Marlene, Leo. Sale times used to be absolutely manic with the sale window displays and thousands of sale tickets we had to print. Particularly remember the staff canteen area it was huge and don't think there are many companies nowadays that provided a full canteen service nowadays. Everything was always imaculate in the store and met some fantastic people. The best job I ever had was working there straight from school. Obviously we were sold to House of Fraser..........a completely different world and I hated it from day one.I remember the last day in particular myself and 3 others with barrows running down from the building with dummies cos we didn't have any for the displays, it was hilarious.Great times and would be great to get in touch with anybody who remembers me.Andrew Brown