A loved and lost Liverpool store is still remembered for its distinct smell of coffee that wafted through the air.
It's now been over 50 years since Coopers on Church Street closed its doors for good. A familiar fixture in the city centre for decades, Cooper & Co was first founded in 1871 and became one of Scotland’s leading grocery shop chains.
Their flagship store was in Glasgow and it was known for its grand architecture and ornate displays, Glasgow Live previously reported. And in a matter of years, a branch that would go on to welcome generations of customers was opened in Liverpool.
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Priding themselves on an extensive range of food and drinks, Coopers is perhaps best remembered for specialising in tea and coffee. Many customers will remember the distinct smell of Coopers wafting through the air .
In the 1970s, the ECHO reported how in the pre-war years at Coopers, "cream cheeses flown in daily from the Continent, waffles laced with maple syrup, cooked and served on the counter, and hors d'oeuvres made to individual specifications" were all made to a background of "singing canaries and the smell of freshly roasted and ground coffee." On February 29 that year, welfare and personnel officer , a Miss Florence Nightingale, told the ECHO: "In the years between the two wars, customers were really given the red carpet treatment.
"Shopping was carried out to the customers' cars, page boys were stationed on all the doors to lend a hand with heavy parcels, and chairs were provided at all the counters. Assistants also gave their undivided attention to shoppers.
"They had to - the people who came here were used to giving orders in their homes and wouldn't stand any nonsense." In the 1930s, deliveries of weekly shopping by special Coopers vans could be spotted across the city.
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At one time, the store also sold hardware, glass and china - as well as having a special department for selling pets, and a "millionaires" corner" full of exotic fruits brought from all parts of the world. Coopers was once home to a bakery and café too in the 1960s.
In 1967, on Liverpool ECHO advertisement shows Coopers selling coffee such as Blue Mountain, Gold Medal and Breakfast. Another ECHO advertisement from 1970 promoted new confectionary from ice sandwiches to Russian bars, Swiss rolls and farmhouse cake.
Customers at the time could also have special savers such as Chivers jelly marmalade, Del Monte sliced potatoes and fresh strawberries and cream. But today, all that lives on of Coopers is its former home, archived photos and fond memories.
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Back in February 1972, the ECHO reported how "an era of genteel shopping ends" for the famous Coopers store. The site, known for its groceries, closed that year after life in the city spanning 76 years.
Coopers was eventually swallowed up by the Fine-Fare chain. In recent years, the site on the corner of Church Street and Paradise Street has been home to a Select clothing store and now a Natwest branch.
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