For kids, a trip into Swansea city centre with mum or dad would often have its certain highlights.
Whilst you had to be dragged along to places like banks and the Post Office whilst the adult stuff was sorted out, you knew that at some point on the day out, there would be certain things you could look forward to.
Whether that was popping into your favourite shop to pick out a new toy, computer game or a pair of football boots, or having something nice to eat, there were certain checkpoints along the route you'd anticipate eagerly.
We've taken a look back at some of the shops that were once firm favourites among the younger generation in Swansea, but are now just a memory.
Children's World
Children's World, which later became Mothercare World, was located in Parc Tawe and had some amazing attractions inside for kids.
As well as selling a range of children's clothes, shoes, toys, baby products and nursery furniture, it had a play area, hairdresser and a snack bar.
It is well remembered by many youngsters for its massive slide and talking tree.
Woolworths
The chance to go to Woolworths was too good to miss for many kids, and that was for one reason.
The iconic high street store was a sugary heaven for youngsters who would make a bee-line for the famous Pic 'n' Mix and tiny 150ml cans of fizzy pop.
And that's before they headed to the records section to buy the latest single from their favourite act.
Gamestation
From Playstation to Nintendo, Gamestation - which was located in Union Street - was a place where kids into their games would pop in and play classics like Crash Bandicoot and Rayman on demonstration booths set up in store.
You'd often see groups of friends loitering around waiting for the stations to become free so they could have a go and play for ages, then leave without actually buying a game.
JJB Sports
For the latest pair of trainers, football boots or trends of the time - from Kappa tracksuits to Adidas poppers - JJB Sports was a place to keep you at the cutting edge or fashion - or so you thought.
It had bases at Parc Tawe and Union Street.
Toys R Us
Toys R Us was the undisputed mecca for kids when it came to Swansea city centre.
Its aisles were full of toys and games to suit all tastes, befitting the trends of different generations, from Star Wars and Thomas The Tank Engine to The Powerpuff Girls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and S Club 7 dolls.
You can reminisce and take a walk down the aisles of the old shop by clicking here.
Fresh Donuts
A staple of a trip to Parc Tawe Retail Park if you were a kid.
A trip to the old UCI cinema or Megabowl would often be capped off with a sweet treat from either Fresh Donuts or Joe's Ice Cream which was in the unit next door. You can almost still smell it.
Our Price
Far flung from today where we all stream music through the likes of Spotify, or download MP3s, kids of a certain age would buy CD singles, which would feature a hit song and two or three B sides.
Our Price in Oxford Street was a popular place where many youngsters would actually commit themselves to buying a CD purely for one song - from S Club 7's Reach to Lou Bega's Mambo No. 5.
Sweetmans
Jenkins and Greggs dominate the pasty world these days, but Sweetmans was once the destination where parents would treat their kids to a fresh cake or a pastry.
It was located in Whitewalls in the unit where Jenkins is today, near the entrance to Swansea Market.
Early Learning Centre
For many, some of their earliest memories of a trip into Swansea city centre would be from inside the old Early Learning Centre, which was based inside The Quadrant for decades.
It would be a place where you could find some of the most imaginative and educational toys for your very young children, and would be somewhere kids would enjoy taking part in arts and crafts sessions and other fun activities.
Mothercare
Mothercare once had a really prominent base in the city centre in a 5,000 square foot unit on the corner of Portland Street and The Kingsway.
There's a high likelihood that the pushchair you were wheeled around in when you were a toddler was bought from here, and the clothing you wore was probably found here too.
The empty unit was taken over by supermarket chain Somerfield, which itself closed in the years which followed.
Baskin Robbins
Baskin Robbins was a firm favourite among kids when it opened in 2010, popular for its 31 separate flavours of ice cream.
From cookies 'n cream to cotton candy and mint chocolate chip, there was something to suit the tastes of everyone. A lot even went in for second helpings.
Pizza Hut - Kingsway
Pizza Hut once had a base in the Kingsway which was iconic for kids' parties, and a place where you and all your friends from school would gather round huge tables and enjoy a deep pan pizza or a pizza buffet and refillable cokes for your birthday.
But it was all about the ice cream station after the pizza which was the most fun. It would allow you to decorate your dessert with all sorts of sweets, hundreds and thousands, chocolate sauce, marshmallows and more. It would often be the case where friends would try and outdo each other with their creative creations.
And if that wasn't enough sugar, you'd then often be given a slice of birthday cake to go home with too. Along with the all important Pizza Hut balloon, of course.
McDonalds - Kingsway
If you weren't stuffing your face with pizza and ice cream next door, McDonald's was another popular choice among kids on the Kingsway.
You'd walk in through the entrance, climb up some steep stairs to get to the counter, and order your happy meal and McFlurry before heading up another set of stairs to the seating area on the second floor, where you could sit on bar stool type chairs and spin around whilst nosing out of the window down to the Kingsway below, simultaneously chomping on your cheeseburger or your chicken nuggets.
Clarks
The latest imminent departure from Swansea city centre's shopping scene, Clarks was once a place many of us got our first pair of shoes.
A trip to the Quadrant store, which has been there for generations, would see you stick your foot inside a measuring device and have your feet sized up, before you'd go and select a pair of brand new shoes which undoubtedly you'd get dirty and scuffed within a few wears after booting a football around the park or the school yard.
A popular choice of footwear for many was Clarks' light up shoes. A little led light in the sole of the shoe would glow as you awkwardly strutted back and forth the shop floor to see how they felt, rushing back to mum or dad to say they felt fine to bring an end to the impromptu catwalk as soon as possible.
Index
For many kids, a trip to Index whilst one of their parents was buying a replacement for the kettle that had just packed in was a prime opportunity to flick through the pages of the catalogue and try their luck at getting their hands on the latest toy or gadget.
Index worked just like Argos, and offered genuine competition for the retailer whilst it was still in operation.
