Past Times

Last updated

Past Times
TypePublic company
IndustryRetail
Founded1987
Defunct2012
Successor WHSmith

Past Times was a United Kingdom high street retailer, specialising in gifts and retro style goods. It was established as a mail order company in 1986 by John Beale, who was also the developer of the Early Learning Centre. [1] In June 1987, the company opened the first branch in Oxford.

The firm went into administration in January 2012 [2] and in March 2013 the brand name was bought by WHSmith. [3] Past Times' website was taken down following the purchase. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHSmith</span> British retailer

WHSmith is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Best Buy</span> American multinational consumer electronics retailer

Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebranded under its current name with an emphasis on consumer electronics in 1983.

A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many parts of the world. A franchise retail establishment is one form of a chain store. In 2005, the world's largest retail chain, Walmart, became the world's largest corporation based on gross sales.

Waterstones is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Waterstones shop sells a range of approximately 30,000 individual books, as well as stationery and other related products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Next plc</span> British retailer

Next plc (styled as NEXT) is a British multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, which has its headquarters in Enderby, England. It has around 700 stores, of which circa 500 are in the United Kingdom, and circa 200 across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Next is the largest clothing retailer by sales in the United Kingdom, having overtaken Marks & Spencer in early 2012 and 2014. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poundstretcher</span> British discount store chain

Poundstretcher is a chain of discount stores operating in the United Kingdom. It is based in Kirby Muxloe, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Home Stores</span> Former British department store chain

British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electronics, entertainment, convenience groceries and fragrance and beauty products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game (retailer)</span> UK-based video game retailer

Game Retail Limited is a British video game retailer, owned by Frasers Group since June 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Price</span> Chain of record stores from 1971 to 2004

Our Price was a chain of record stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 1971 until 2004.

LoveFilm was a United Kingdom–based provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany.

The Gadget Shop was a national British high-street chain of stores, predominantly selling gadgets, toys and lighting products, founded by Jonathan Elvidge in 1991. At its height, it was one of the leading UK novelty gadget retailers. The chain went into administration in 2005, and subsequently closed. Its assets have previously been owned by The Entertainer, and are currently owned by WHSmith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peacocks (clothing)</span> British fast-fashion retail chain

Peacocks is a fast-fashion retail chain from the United Kingdom-based in Cardiff, Wales. The chain is now part of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill group, and employs over 6,000 people. There are currently over four hundred Peacocks retail outlets located in the United Kingdom; and more than two hundred stores located in twelve other countries throughout Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JD Sports</span> British sports-fashion retail company

JD Sports Fashion plc, commonly known as JD Sports, JD or JD Group is a British sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The Pentland Group owns 55% of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frasers Group</span> British sports-goods retailer

Frasers Group plc is a British retail, sport and intellectual property group, named after its ownership of the department store chain House of Fraser. The company is best known for trading predominantly under the Sports Direct brand which operates both physical outlets and online. Other retailers owned by the company include Jack Wills, GAME, Flannels, USC, Lillywhites and Evans Cycles. The company owns numerous intellectual property, including the brands Everlast, Lonsdale, Slazenger and No Fear. The group also expanded into operating fitness clubs, launching the Everlast Fitness Club chain in 2020.

Future Group is an Indian conglomerate, founded by Kishore Biyani and based in Mumbai. The company is known in Indian retail and fashion sectors, operating supermarket chains Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores Brand Factory and Central, integrated foods and FMCG manufacturing sectors. Future Retail Limited and Future Lifestyle Fashions Limited are two operating companies whose assets are among the top retail companies listed in BSE, with market capitalization among the highest on the National Stock Exchange of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modelzone</span> British scale model brand and former high street model retail chain

Modelzone is a scale model brand owned by British retailer WHSmith, of scale models and related products are sold in WHSmith stores and online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eason & Son</span> Irish retail company

Eason Retail PLC, known as Easons or Eason, is an Irish retail company best known for selling books, stationery, cards, gifts, newspapers and magazines. Headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, it is the largest supplier of books, magazines, and newspapers in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton On Group</span> Australian multinational retail company

Cotton On Group is an Australian retail company, known for its fashion clothing and stationery brands. As of 2020, it has over 1,500 stores in 18 countries employing 22,000 people across seven brands: Cotton On, Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body, Factorie, Typo, Rubi, Supré, and Cotton On Foundation.

EziBuy is a New Zealand and Australian multi-channel retailer. It sells clothing, homeware and gifts through a multi-channel model in both countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail</span> Aspect of viral outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a sharp economic toll on the retail industry worldwide as many retailers and shopping centers were forced to shut down for months due to mandated stay-at-home orders. As a result of these closures, online retailers received a major boost in sales as customers looked for alternative ways to shop and the effects of the retail apocalypse were exacerbated. A number of notable retailers filed for bankruptcy including Ascena Retail Group, Debenhams, Arcadia Group, Brooks Brothers, GNC, J. C. Penney, Lord & Taylor and Neiman Marcus.

References

  1. "WHSmith's acquisition of Past Times: What do retailers need to know?". Retail Week . 17 April 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.(subscription required)
  2. "Past Times goes into administration". BBC News . 16 January 2012.
  3. Cooper, Rachel (11 April 2013). "WH Smith buys Past Times brand". The Daily Telegraph .
  4. Rigby, Chloe (12 April 2013). "Past Times website taken down as WH Smith buys the brand". InternetRetailing. Retrieved 4 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)