Retro footage has emerged of Edinburgh's Fort Kinnaird shopping park that will no doubt bring back some fond memories for shoppers over the years, with various stores present in the video now all but forgotten.
In recent years, the Fort at Newcraighall has undergone somewhat of a modern transformation, with shops we remember from our childhood being replaced by the next big thing, and a row of restaurants being introduced to breathe some life back into, what once was, one of the busiest attractions in and around Edinburgh.
I'm sure many of us will have memories of late night Christmas shopping at the Fort, queuing for McChans Chinese takeaway and taking our birthday money to splash the cash at Toys R Us.
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The video, posted on TikTok by Andyt95v, features some incredible throwback stores, as well as taking Edinburgh residents back in time to remember the old layout of the huge shopping park, which has undergone several transformations.
From the first image in the reel, the bright sign from the Orange shop sticks out like a sore thumb. Many of us will remember one of our first mobile phones, which was probably a Nokia, on Orange network, a company so popular all over the world that is seemed like they were the only provider of phones. And, who could forget their iconic 'Two for Tuesday's' cinema adverts we were met with during every trip to the flicks.
Next to the Orange shop, is Thorntons Chocolates. A popular store amongst children and adults with their irresistible toffee and melted chocolate fountains, Thorntons sadly made the decision to close all of their stores due to the pandemic. The confectionary company used to be a staple at both Fort Kinnaird and St James Centre.
Some stores in the video do still exist at the Fort, although they are in different locations. Phone shops Vodafone and Three, which were all located on the same row of shops at Orange, have moved elsewhere, with the latter still occupying a spot at the Fort. New Look has also moved to another location, yet remains a busy store within the park.
The second, and perhaps the most heartbreaking, image shows the frontage of Toys R Us before its closure in 2018. The iconic toy store was a sea with children every time you visited, but even more so around Christmas time. Taking your gift money to spend on whatever you wanted was perhaps one of the hardest decisions a child ever had to make.
Despite breaking the hearts of tens of thousands of Edinburgh kids when the store closed, recent news surfaced that the retailer could once again be hitting the high street, four years after it went into administration. The huge store at the fort has now been transformed into a Primark.
A timely image of the Chinese takeaway trailer McChans follows next, with the restaurant ironically teasing a possible new location at Ocean Terminal in recent weeks. Many will remember the random, yet popular positioning of the Chinese takeaway at one of the entrances to the Fort, as there was usually a queue of people waiting for their favourite oriental dishes. McChans swapped their old trailer for a store in Niddrie at the end of 2019.
Another favourite at the fort was the huge HMV store. Unfortunately for most, buying physical DVDs and CDs is a thing of the past, although the retailer recently reopened their store on Princes Street after making a comeback. The store at the Fort, which was once beside Next, was the go-to place for the latest film or music album, not forgetting those kids who had to beg their parents to buy a 15-rated Xbox or PlayStation game for them.
The iconic UCI cinema rounds things off. Built in 1988, it was the first of its type in Edinburgh, something that seems hard to fathom given the amount of cinema's darted around the capital now, but evidently it was a sign of things to come. Unfortunately, the cinema was bought by Odeon in 2005 and it was demolished a few years later. A larger and more modern Odeon, with its own Costa Coffee now occupies a different area of the shopping park, alongside several restaurants such as Five Guys, Bread Meats Bread and TGI Friday's.
You can view the full video below:
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