The family-run business is still fondly remembered
Outside the lost Frost`s T. W. & Co department store, Walton Road, Liverpool. February 3, 1973(Image: Courtesy of Liverpool Central Library and Archives)
A lost Liverpool department store was the “beating heart” of one busy city street for generations. Named after draper and local entrepreneur Thomas Frost, many will know the familiar tower of the famous Frost’s building on Walton Road.
It was back in the 1880s that Mr Frost moved into one of the six shops on site and from there built a family empire. By 1910, Frost’s drapery business expanded into all of the shops and became a household name
Around the time of WWI, the shops were replaced by the current building, remembered as Frost’s Department Store. Also known as T.W. Frost, the family-run business was on Walton Road for around a century and welcomed hundreds upon hundreds through its doors, selling everything from clothing to homeware and more, the ECHO previously reported.
Generations will remember shopping there with their parents, or even working there and with staff going on trips together outside of the city. The ECHO’s former sports editor Ken Rogers, who writes the ‘Lost Tribes’ memory column, previously shared his childhood memories of the lost department store and what the area was like in years gone by.
He said: “Frost’s was a really popular department store, drawing in customers from all of the surrounding districts. My late mother, May Rogers, worked there for years.
Outside Frost`s T. W. & Co department store, Walton Road. February 3, 1973(Image: Courtesy of Liverpool Central Library and Archives)
“Frost’s itself was a very welcoming store. Mum worked in the popular curtains department on the ground floor.
“There was a real togetherness about the Frost’s staff. I can remember them ambitiously organising trips to Paris and Amsterdam which took my mother out of the country for the first time in her life.”
Images, courtesy of Liverpool Central Library and Archives, offer a glimpse into the popular department store decades ago. Both taken in 1973, many will remember the building as it looks here.
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Since these images were taken, a lot has changed in the area and Ken said he remembers that part of Walton Road as always being busy. He said: “Directly opposite Frost’s was a well-known Co-op store which I particularly remember.
“Back in the 1950s, kids wore ankle high leather football boots, their nailed-in wooden studs regularly having to be replaced by one of the local cobblers in the area. One day I spotted a pair of visionary rubber-soled ‘footy’ boots in the Co-op window, the first of their kind.
“They carried the name of the legendary Blackpool and England winger, Stanley Matthews. Everything is sponsored these days, but it was unusual at that time and I pestered my mother for a pair. It must have stretched her budget to afford them, but she popped over the road from Frost’s to get me a pair.
Frost`s T. W. & Co department store, Walton Road, Liverpool. February 3, 1973(Image: Courtesy of Liverpool Central Library and Archives)
“Above that was the famous and former Blair Hall which had been a popular local dance hall in its time. I played for the ECHO football team in the Business Houses League and recall that we had our end of season presentations there on one occasion.
“Behind the Co-op was a stable, home to those hard-working horses that once pulled the the many Co-op bread and cake vans that serviced areas all over the city. Two of my uncles worked there at one stage. I can remember one of them sitting astride his horse like a Walton cowboy.
“A few blocks away from Frost’s was an equally famous Woolworth’s store that had been going strong since 1932. It was the ninth ‘Woolies’ to open in Liverpool. Burton’s the tailors had a big shop nearby and there were two cinemas on Walton Road, the Queen’s at one end and the imposing Astoria at the other.”
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For almost a century, thousands of customers visited Frost’s and in some cases, may still have items that they bought there. But in May 1978, the ECHO reported how the Walton Road department store was to close at the end of that month after 97 years in business, with the then 25 staff being made redundant.
In 1988, it was reported how the building was purchased by RD Jenkins & Co ltd, who were specialists in industrial sewing machines. Then owner Robert Jenkins went on to convert the three-storey building into individual retail outlets and a number of small factory units, incorporating his own established individual and domestic sewing machines business – The Sewing Centre – and a bedding and furniture shop – The Prescot Furnishing Company.
In more recent years, the site has been home to a Wetherspoons pub. But it still gives a nod to its roots – named The Thomas Frost – and it is remembered for its department store past.
The Thomas Frost Wetherspoons pub on Walton Road(Image: GOOGLE STREETVIEW)
Ken said: “Of course, these days the building is the modern ‘Thomas Frost’ bar and I have popped in on a few occasions, just standing in there quietly to remember my mother who was a real character. All of these memories reflect what a significant and hectic business thoroughfare Walton Road once was with Frost’s at its heart.
“The road is still busy with many little shops, but at its height it was once the beating heart and soul of Walton, remembered affectionately by thousands.”
On our Facebook page, ECHO readers previously shared their fond memories of the lost department store. Lilian Baker said: “Worked there as a Saturday girl when I was at secondary school. Loved it.” Marie Glover said: “A great shop. Loved the basement. X.”
Jean Denny commented: “Went shopping there with mum. Packages wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. Money sent via a vacuum tube.” Stephen Hughes posted: “Lived two streets away in St. Hilda Street and this was a regular shop that my mum and aunt took me to weekly. I was sad when it became a pub. I never drank in there.”
Susan Devonport posted: “A big part of Walton.” Patricia Hale said: “Frost’s was a lovely store to shop in.”
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Jayne Cox wrote: “I worked there for a while and loved it x.” Jan Stewart posted: “I remember going there with my nan to get my uncle’s school uniform. Then years later I used to go regularly for my sewing stuff.”
Ruth Williams commented: “I went in Frost’s plenty of times with my nan she lived in Teulon St which was almost opposite. I remember the shop looking particularly sad when it had its closing down sale. It sold all kinds.”
May Boden said: “Loved Frost’s. My aunty lived behind it and nanny lived in Orwell Street, my dad used to take me there at Christmas, memories.” John Seels wrote: “I worked in Frost’s from 74-77.”