Remember the old computer shops?

[Katzkatz]

Does anyone remember the old computer shops? There was Computerworld in Canterbury, Kent (which had stores in Ramsgate and a store in London Walthastow). But I mainly remember the one in Canterbury and Ramsgate. The one in Canterbury had a downstairs basement where there were about 10 Amigas and you could hire them for an hour or somehting like that to play games on. They also had a massive PD library and were an Amiga specialist. I remember they had their Amiga 500 show computer on with the old GVP hard drive. I think alot of the staff were from the demo scene! They also had a mail order company called Post Haste. They sold the Amiga slightly cheaper at 375! They later expanded to the other shop and made downstairs even bigger, but this time the PC had taken over they still sold Amigas, but moved into selling PC hardware. The downstairs then had PCs networked together I think. They later went out of business when Tiny and PC world came to Canterbury. The shop was sold and turned into a PC shop just selling hardware and some software, they did have an internet cafe part for a while, then it went into a furniture store, and now it is sadly demolished! There was also another computer shop in Canterbury at the time called Software Plus, they just used to sell games and stuff.

The Ramsgate store wasn't quite as big, and I sort of discovered it by accident. It was along the main high street in Ramsgate opposite a sweet shop if I remember correctly. I think it merged with The calculus stores (remember that!) for a while. I think they had a Amiga B2000 and The Commodore PC in there as well as the software. I think there is a computer shop in Ramsgate now but it just sells PC parts.

I never went to the London store, so I don't know what it was like. These places were amazing compared to seeing The Amiga and ST in places like Dixons and Currys!

[TMR]

Does anyone remember the old computer shops? There was Computerworld in Canterbury, Kent (which had stores in Ramsgate and a store in London Walthastow). But I mainly remember the one in Canterbury and Ramsgate.

It wasn't in Ramsgate, the first shop was owned by Ian and Brian in Canterbury, then Brian went to run the Maidstone shop and finally Walthamstow was managed by Kev and Paul. i worked at Canterbury.

I think alot of the staff were from the demo scene!

Well, demo and cracking scenes yes; Rob our ST expert was a member of The Dentrassi, i was and still am the "management" of Cosine on most formats, the owners Ian and Brian were members of the Amiga crew C.A.T.S. and i forget which crew the Walthamstow lads had been in.

But in Canterbury especially we had a lot of scene people through; locally we had ties with Alienation and later Anthrox since four or five members were fairly local and one of their earlier demos was coded in the basement. And we'd get visits from other members of our own crews and occasionally people we mail traded with.

[JetSetWilly]

i know there used to a software plus in harlow.
i used to go in there every week to see what they had. As soon as you entered, you were greeted by the till and sega megadrive games on shelves. if you walked down a set of steps (about three or four), you would find the holy grail of games: speccy, amiga, atari and they even sold a couple of the GX4000 games too. And, they were quite cheap, too. R-TYPE II, brand new for 7.99 (having been released on Amiga a week before).
But, sadly, it went in about 1997 and now become a Candlerama (SACRALIDGE!!!!). I still want to find a classic game shop thats still open somewhere, with a good selection of old games. if not, its back to eBay.

[Katzkatz]

I still think there was a shop in Ramsgate. But it got sold to Calculus (they were to be a nationwide store of computer shops but it never took off!). On the Amigas brought from there you used to have a sticker on them with ComputerWorld's telephone number on it. I am pretty sure it had a Ramsgate branch and a Canterbury one, also when I got my Amiga from the Canterbury branch, you had to buy a disk for Deluxe Paint to work so I went ot the Ramsgate store and had a duff disk so I had to take it back. Does anyone know the computer shop I mean in Ramsgate (I know it isn't there now!). Sorry to argue with you TMR. What were the other two branches like? Were they as big as the Canterbury one? You used to get plugged a lot on Invicta FM, by Caesar the Boogieman (he is now called Caesar the Geezer) who does still broadcast in Kent on Swale FM.

[sleeper77]

Here in the Southampton area a lot of dedicated 2nd hand gaming shops have closed down, especially during the start of the PS1 era & the end of 16bits. There is one games shop just down the road from where I work at the moment which sell 2nd hand games, even selling retro items for the SNES & Megadrive. As far as I am aware it is the only games shop in the Soton area which is not linked to the likes of GAME that have take over every commercial vicinity here only specialising in videogames. The only other games shop I've seen apart from GAME is one E-Play store. There is one Gamestation store although I'm certain that is going to change to "GAME" under a different name and 1 or 2 very minor differences. Cex is still going on here but they seem more interested in selling DVDs & mobile phones as the games section has been reduced a lot.

[russgalleywood]

There was a Software Plus in Chelmsford, late 80's early 90's. Bought some of my favourite C64 and Amiga games there!

I remember buying my Amiga itself from a place in Romford, Essex called Lan Computers.

Oh, and I seem to remember being able to buy Beeb games from the Co-op department store in Chelmsford in the early 80's, all the big stores started selling them around then I believe, used to pop into Boots each lunchtime from work too.
I remember drooling over a Speccy game called 'Worse Things Happen at Sea' in WHSmiths in mid-80s, they were very supportive of computers in the early days, I think they were the first big store to stock Spectrums weren't they?
I had a BBC at the time so Spectrum & C64 games seem advanced and exciting then!

[TMR]

On the Amigas brought from there you used to have a sticker on them with ComputerWorld's telephone number on it.

My A1200 '030 still has a "Computerworld Systems" PC case badge on it and a branded disk label (with the Canterbury and Maidstone phone numbers) stuck to it's arse, and there's another "systems" badge on the front of my PC's tower case. Those stickers got there because we tested just about every Amiga before it left the place, usually when it was quiet of a Wednesday afternoon, one of us would disappear into the basement and fire up ten machines at a time, give them a quick once over (make sure they actually started up, that the keyboard worked, disks booted, stuff like that) and stickered them before they were put into the stack of units for sale.

We shifted a vast amount of A500 hardware, one favourite of the sales team was to boot Shadow of the Beast on the B2000 (for a very long time, it was connected to a NAD amplifier and when it was quiet on late nights around Christmas, we'd crank the volume up and give the speakers a work-out) and Atari ST and let people work out the difference for themselves... =-)

Sorry to argue with you TMR. What were the other two branches like?

Well, the Maidstone branch was about the same size although the upstairs section was just for storage and not open to the public at all; they leant more towards PC hardware than Amiga, although Rob the ST man was over there and putting up a good fight - i only spent about a week working there one Christmas when they needed an extra body.

Walthamstow was Amiga guys (with an Atari 8-bit background in one case) although i seem to remember that they went PC around the time Commodore crashed prior to Escom stepping in; it was a smaller shop but that's not surprising considering the rents and i remember it being quite loud since it was slap in the middle of Walthamstow market and Kev was a musician so had an A4000 MIDI'd up to a Moog and a large amp.

i've just found an old Amiga floppy that carries the address of the Ramsgate shop; i started working at Computerworld about two years after it opened, so it must have been prior to that because i don't ever remember getting a phone call or anything from them (Maidstone were always on the phone!) i'm still in touch with a couple of people, if they're answering emails i'll see what they can remember!

You used to get plugged a lot on Invicta FM, by Caesar the Boogieman (he is now called Caesar the Geezer) who does still broadcast in Kent on Swale FM.

Caesar was a fairly regular customer, although i didn't think much of him; bit of a wazzock really... =-)

[Katzkatz]

Thanks for the reply TMR. Canterbury was quite packed for computer shops at one time. Computerworld (the best!), Software Plus, ADM (which try to avoid libeling myself, had a slightly bad reputation!), and then the GameStation or Game Zone place opened up on the main high street (I think it was a Virgin Game Store before that). There also was a Mac Specialist Shop, which I can't remember the name of.

I remember Ian and Sue who were the owners, and someone called Rem who was the Mac specialist even though they didn't stock much Mac stuff in, but you order it in if you wanted to. I also remember Jason (who had long blonde hair), I have seen him around Canterbury still, he did the Amiga and C64 (unless that is you TMR?). I think they even ordered some stuff in for the Acorn Archimides, you had to ask over the counter and pay a deposit. I also remember that they didn't like mentioned the mail order service Post Haste in the shop.

I think you talked about this on another forum on the internet becuase I remember googling it.

The thing I remember about the Ramsgate shop (I discovered it by accident) was it was on the main high street in Ramsgate on the way to the harbour, oppposite a sweet shop (Which is still there I think!). It was a bit more quiet than the Canterbury store. They had the Commodore PC in there (a 386 with the starter menu system), a Amiga B2000, and a couple of shelves of Amiga software.

[Katzkatz]

The only other computer shop I remember was one in Deal called The Lighthouse. It was an Atari ST specialist! Did mainly ST programs. You had to goto Dixons or Currys in those days to see Amigas and STs, unless you went to the computer shops. There was also another sort of shop in Deal, it was on the industrial estate behind the fire station (quite an odd place I know, but I think the guy who owned it could afford the rent there and not the high street). You had to go up two flights of stairs to get to it. I think it was in the phone book, but I can't remember the name of it. The man who owned it had an Amiga B2000 and you could test games on it. He had some software in there, but mainly you had to order in stuff from him. I remember I tested Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge on his B2000, and brought it from him. I wondered what happened to his place? Lighthouse I think is now a cafe/coffee shop, opposite The Happy Fryer.

Places like WHSmith did sell computer games in those days, maybe not the large selection that you get nowadays.

The way Dixons and Currys showed off the Amiga was having Shadow of the Beast running on it, with the parrallax scrolling, and I always remember the Acorn Archimides had that demo with the walking soldiers on it.

[TMR]

Thanks for the reply TMR. Canterbury was quite packed for computer shops at one time. Computerworld (the best!), Software Plus, ADM (which try to avoid libeling myself, had a slightly bad reputation!)

ADM was more business-oriented, they were a bit crap when it came to home systems and would even send people over the road to us when it was about Amiga.

and then the GameStation or Game Zone place opened up on the main high street (I think it was a Virgin Game Store before that). There also was a Mac Specialist Shop, which I can't remember the name of.

No, i can't remember the Mac place's name either but Rem went to work there and some of my SCSI gear came from them as well. i think it was an EB on the high street at some point and there was Jones Computing on Palace Street (he moved out of games and into business and over to a trading estate) and a selection of games at Soccodi Music when they were in Orange Street (or thereabouts). There was an Arc specialist at one point too, can't think for the life of me what it was called but a school acquaintance Obie used to work there and he had three goes at fixing my 1541 disk drive at one point.

I remember Ian and Sue who were the owners

For most of the shop's lifespan it was Ian, Sue, Brian and Maggie who were joint owners; near the end (when the focus started to shift heavily towards the PC) Brian Maggie bought Ian and Sue out; Ian was very pro the idea of sticking with the Amiga if memory serves and, although i haven't spoken to him for several years and that's something i want to rectify, i believe he's running a shop in one of the coastal towns doing retro games and hardware.

and someone called Rem who was the Mac specialist even though they didn't stock much Mac stuff in, but you order it in if you wanted to.

Rem was employed as hardware engineer; he had a bit of a habit of sticking screwdrivers into the badly-shielded power supplies of Atari STs and kicking himself across the room; we'd usually know what had happened when the lighting breakers upstairs popped in sympathy! Must be said, we had a bit of a run for picking engineers who were lovely blokes, gifted and not particularly worried by the idea of 240 volt mains loads up the arm...!

I also remember Jason (who had long blonde hair), I have seen him around Canterbury still, he did the Amiga and C64 (unless that is you TMR?).

Yup that'd be me. =-) i don't live in Canterbury any more (i moved to London for work about six years ago, then to Yorkshire and i'm settled in Leeds) but my parents, quite a bit of family and some very good friends do so i'm down there about once a year and usually meet up with Frank Gasking of Games That Weren't 64 in order to try breaking our record for staying in McDonalds on a single purchase! Still got the long hair, but i usually have it in a ponytail rather than just looking like an animated mop.

I think they even ordered some stuff in for the Acorn Archimides, you had to ask over the counter and pay a deposit.

There weren't many people actually ordering Arc stuff, i can't remember many people wanting to try at least and it always took ages in the queue at the distributors to check availability!

I also remember that they didn't like mentioned the mail order service Post Haste in the shop.

Yeah, the mail order prices were lower than what we had on the shelves and occasionally some bright spark would work out that 11 Burgate Lane and 11a Burgate Lane were rather similar... but we didn't encourage it and they didn't get a discount if they worked it out. =-) For a long time, Post Haste was run from the basement by Tony and Sue between them, with Ian typing up and setting the magazine adverts using Pro Page on the Amiga.

Hell, i feel really old now. =-)

[paranoid marvin]

Anyone remember Softcentre Cwmbran?

[Katzkatz]

Thanks fror the reply Jason/TMR. The old memories keep flooding back! I would love to find Ian's shop. I was sad when Computerworld went. It was nice having a local shop which did hardware and software. Do you know who brought it after Brian and Maggie and turned it into a PC hardware shop, with an internet cafe part in it? Was it owned by Brian and Maggie then?

Also as you're a C64 boffin, do you have any knowledge of a tank/strategy game called Tobruk? I think it was coded in the Ramsgate area.

[Katzkatz]

Thanks fror the reply Jason/TMR. The old memories keep flooding back! I would love to find Ian's shop. I was sad when Computerworld went. It was nice having a local shop which did hardware and software. Do you know who brought it after Brian and Maggie and turned it into a PC hardware shop, with an internet cafe part in it? Was it owned by Brian and Maggie then?

Also as you're a C64 boffin, do you have any knowledge of a tank/strategy game called Tobruk? I think it was coded in the Ramsgate area.

PS I ahve just got the competition Pro USB today and i used for the Turrican Clone called T4 Funeral. Turned up The Marantz Amplifier and it was a step back in time!

[Wil]

i know there used to a software plus in harlow.
i used to go in there every week to see what they had. As soon as you entered, you were greeted by the till and sega megadrive games on shelves. if you walked down a set of steps (about three or four), you would find the holy grail of games: speccy, amiga, atari and they even sold a couple of the GX4000 games too. And, they were quite cheap, too. R-TYPE II, brand new for 7.99 (having been released on Amiga a week before).
But, sadly, it went in about 1997 and now become a Candlerama (SACRALIDGE!!!!). I still want to find a classic game shop thats still open somewhere, with a good selection of old games. if not, its back to eBay.

Was that the one down the bottom of Post Office Walk? I used to go there - quite a good selection of import Megadrive games. I remember coverting such gems as Arrow Flash, Insector X and FZ Axis but at the time I was still an Amiga-ite (think I got Rainbow Islands from there amongst many others). I remember showing off a bit with my new Game Boy. I was working in London at the time and had got a Japanese one on, pretty much, launch day in '89. That and Super Mario Land drew quite a crowd.
In the Speccy/C64 days some years earlier there was also a great software shop at one of the 'hatches' about 15 mins walk from the town along Hare Street and also one in Staple Tye, a smaller shopping precinct on the other side of town. I remember getting whopping sized (or so it seemed at the time) Xmas issues of Zzap! and Crash from there and they also permanently loaned me a C64 power brick when mine went belly up - good guys in there.
I was born and grew up in Harlow and still have great friends there (I'm in Warwickshire now, in between Nuneaton and Ashby) but none of them use the town now and an EB/Game/whatever in the Harvey Centre is about as good as you'll get.

And, of course, the legendary Special Reserve was only up the road a few miles near Sawbridgworth.

Harlow was quite good for games for a while. Just across the market square from Software Plus in The Rows was Julian Gollop's Target Games

Some local little PC shops that sell stuff and do repairs are probably the natural evolution of the old game shops (my mate works part-time in one in Harlow in The Stow). It'd be nice if the little independents could survive against the hideous chains but it must be so hard nowadays with the supermarkets to compete with as well.

[MC1]

Anyone remember Softcentre Cwmbran?

I think I do.