What We Got in a Street of Shops

I was the founding Chairman of a trading group for locally run independent shops in Sunderland City Centre and the following piece catalogues all the types of goods available in the four streets. I wrote it in 1999 and already it is out of date..the giutar shop is a nightclub, the DIY store is a pub, to name but two changes. In a few years time when retailers have deserted the high street in favour of out of town retail parks and eShops, this will be quaint nostalgia


What We Got


There's computer games, picture frames
Lights, tights and holiday flights
Artist's studio, Art Garfunkel, Art Decor
Saws, doors, parquet floors
Slot machines, kiddies jeans
Bacon, sausage, chips and beans
Hoover bags, sleeping bags, twenty fags, glossy mags
Facial scrub, Italian grub
Even a widget (at the pub)
You can buy some meat, back a suite, back a horse
Get a divorce
There's dollies houses, computer mouses
Outdoor pursuits, out-size suits
Tellies and wellies
Bellies pierced, bellied pork, pork pies, hair dyes, hi-fi's
Beds for sunning, pipes for plumbing
Clairvoyancy...could you see that coming?
Driving Lessons (choice of two)
Clothing, books, old and new
Do you need a new tutu?
Howsabout a nice tattoo?
A wedding gown or tanning brown
Uniforms and unicorns
Pills for piles, office files, retro styles
Beds, nibs and broomsticks
Photo pics, compact discs, computer discs
slipped discs cured, lives assured
Condoms, popadoms, CD Roms, Last night at the Proms
(On record) very rare, beauty treatment, cutting hair
Pies prepared, flies repaired
Curtains, blinds, dentures, specs
Investing cash, cashing cheques
Diamond rings, guitar strings
Cars ( and other things with wings)
Repairs to washers, driers, fridges
Much more choice than at The Bridges
Park Lane Shopping...what a spot
What we got...we got the lot