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Wigan Album

LENNONS SUPERMARKET

26 Comments

LENNONS SUPERMARKET
LENNONS SUPERMARKET
Photo: Frank Orrell
Views: 5,237
Item #: 31834
Lennon's supermarket in King Street in a view from Rodney Street in 1967. The chimney near the Hippodrome can be seen in the background

Comment by: E mc on 23rd January 2020 at 23:30

After Lennon's I think it become a Tesco.

Comment by: Irene Roberts on 24th January 2020 at 09:08

No, I don't think it became a Tesco, though I'm happy to stand corrected. There WAS a Tesco in King Street at one time but higher up and on the opposite side of the road. My husband and I used to shop at Lennon's when we were first married in the early 1974. I worked at Debenhams and we used to get a weekly wage packet on Friday nights and went straight to Lennon's with it. Shortly after our wages started to be paid monthly into the bank but I missed those Friday pay-packets, and I missed Lennon's when it closed.

Comment by: David Brown on 24th January 2020 at 09:16

Worked here stocking shelves during one summer holiday from school. We used to price up all the tinned goods using a felt tip pen writing the price on the top of each tin whilst sitting on a box in the stock room. Happy days.

Comment by: Arthur on 24th January 2020 at 09:31

KWIK SAVE after Lennons.

Comment by: A.W. on 24th January 2020 at 10:16

Was Kwik Save in the late 1980s' used to go in there as I worked nearby.

Comment by: Mr X on 24th January 2020 at 10:26

I don't know when Lennon's supermarket opened but it survived until the 1980s,(didn't it become a Kwiksave), and built on the site of the Hippodrome theatre that was destroyed by fire in 1956. An Austin Morris J4 van with sliding door is parked outside, and the car in Rodney Street is a Ford Popular. This model came out in 1953 as the two door Anglia and four door Prefect with different grilles. By 1959 when the new Anglia with its distinctive rear window was introduced, the old Anglia was renamed Popular continued with limited production until 1962.

Comment by: Tom on 24th January 2020 at 11:47

My wife has still got her first pay packet and wage its still sealed I can see 2 1 pound notes and 1 ten Bob note a couple of half crowns and a few pence a weeks work at lostock cotton factory her hours were 7.30 am got home 6 pm her mother used to gave her 10 Bob back to pay for the coach and buy her dinners for the following week that was in the early 1960s

Comment by: Irene Roberts on 24th January 2020 at 12:37

Mr. X, We have a 1959 Hillman Minx...it wouldn't look out of place on there!

Comment by: Lynne on 24th January 2020 at 13:34

Looking at that great photo - it's obvious what spoils that view today... too many vehicles. Although I'm a driver, I would now like to see car travel curtailed. Not only is there the pollution aspect, we would get fitter by walking more.

Comment by: Kenee on 24th January 2020 at 16:28

After Lennons it was Fine Fare, then Safeway, then Quick Save, then it closed down!

Comment by: priscus on 24th January 2020 at 21:57

I do not know when it opened, but it must have been before 1964, as I can recall being sent to shop there in that year.

Comment by: Brendell on 25th January 2020 at 12:40

Please can I keep a copy of that photo? I worked at Lennons when I first left school for a short while. This would probably have been 1964 to early 1965. I was in the office and worked in the glass fronted room above the butchery (I think) that you could see everybody in the shop. On Friday evening when it was busy and I had finished my work I used to help on the check-out which was great fun. When the Lennon brothers arrived it was like royalty was visiting.

Comment by: XPat on 25th January 2020 at 15:57

Hi Kenee , you don’t paint an optimistic picture , what is it now a kebab shop ?
Hi Lynne , what do you think should happen with the school run ?

Comment by: Kenee on 25th January 2020 at 17:25

XPat: I think it was demolished about 1990 and now it's a car park.

Comment by: XPat on 25th January 2020 at 18:52

Thanks Kenee

Comment by: Philip C on 25th January 2020 at 20:29

Am I correct in thinking that it was Wigan`s first " supermarket?"

Comment by: Carolaen on 25th January 2020 at 21:18

A lot of people think that Lennons was the first Supermarket in Wigan, but I think the first one was called Anthony's on Wallgate just up from the Menorca (or whatever it's called these days) Does anyone have pictures of Anthony's . I seem more prevail that they issued Pink Stamps unlike the more common Green Shield ones. It didn't last very long.

Comment by: Frank Orrell on 25th January 2020 at 21:45

Hello Brendell. No problem if you want to keep a copy of the photo of Lennon's. Let me know if you have a problem downloading it.

Comment by: Veronica on 25th January 2020 at 23:15

I seem to remember a Co-op store at the bottom of Greenough St being the first 'supermarket', it was quite a novelty going in and serving yourself.
I would only be in my teens at the time. ( I don't think I have dreamt it , !)

Comment by: Carolaen on 26th January 2020 at 17:24

Veronica. I can remember the old Coop in Her enough Street which certainly had a good section. Weirdly even though I passed it regularly, as we lived in Scholes, I only went in there on a couple of occasions with an Aunty. My Mum and Dad never, ever to my knowledge went into a Coop. This was really weird as not only were they solid working class but both were active Trade Unionists and Labour Party Members who , you would have thought, would have been keen users of the Coop. I often think of this when our shopping in my Somerset village where the Coop is the only supermarket !

Comment by: Veronica on 26th January 2020 at 19:37

Don't think my mother went in regularly, probably because it was more expensive. We have a Co- op near me and it is dearer than anywhere else, but it stays open later . There are special offers occasionally Carolaen but we have more of a selection of supermarkets now and that makes a difference.

Comment by: Philip C on 26th January 2020 at 21:06

I can remember a larger shop store in News Springs. It was roughly at the top of Bolney St. From memory it was like a mini super market. Are there any photographs of this shop ?......or what it was called

Comment by: Riocaroni on 28th October 2020 at 15:22

I'm sure it became a carpet & tile store before it closed down?

Comment by: John Johnson on 5th December 2023 at 05:35

The co-op in New Springs was at the junction of Longfield and Chapel street.

Comment by: Colin Traynor on 5th December 2023 at 08:34

I think it was the 'Real' supermarket in Wigan, before Tesso opened where that church had been in King Street, a bit further up than the the Court Cinema. It was quite a novelty to walk along the aisles putting shopping in your basket and then going to a till.
Not sure but were Lennon's based in St Helen's?

Comment by: Kenee on 5th December 2023 at 18:00

Colin:
Lennons did have a large supermarket in St Helens which also became a Fine Fare. It's now B&M.

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