₦airaland Forum

First to comment. What do I do with this space. Can I sell it at a price

How can our throwback be better than our present? Naija which way?

How many people here remember Amosun Stores in Ilorin?? Was the biggest then right??

[quote author=AngelahFlo post=136916511]Hello Guys,
For our Retro walk I wanna take those of us Gen X into a time in our childhood when innocence was real and true. Kingsway Stores which was the first indegenous departmental stores that first opened to the public in 1948 alongside Leventis Stores. It was unique in every way by bringing a feel of London's West End to Nigeria.

At the store you can buy imported items at affordable prices and there're so many fond memories of that era. My fondest memories was of my dad coming home with goodies for us like toy cars and water balls. It was the Shop rite and Ebeano Stores of the time.

What led to its decline was the oil price of the mid 80s and the SAP sanction of '86 which led to a ban on imported goods. It's really a sad story filled with nostalgia. Let the images below speak for themselves and you'll see Future CO of Silverbird empire as a 7 year old kid on the lap of Santa Claus in Kingsway Store.[/quote
I really don't know what to say Seun. Fill in the remaining gap for me

Last time i entered a Kingsway was in 1989. Good old days when we had UTC, leventis and chellerams. All gone now.

The SAP really sapped us.

AngelahFlo:
Hello Guys,
For our Retro walk I wanna take those of us Gen X into a time in our childhood when innocence was real and true. Kingsway Stores which was the first indegenous departmental stores that first opened to the public in 1948 alongside Leventis Stores. It was unique in every way by bringing a feel of London's West End to Nigeria.

At the store you can buy imported items at affordable prices and there're so many fond memories of that era. My fondest memories was of my dad coming home with goodies for us like toy cars and water balls. It was the Shop rite and Ebeano Stores of the time.

What led to its decline was the oil price of the mid 80s and the SAP sanction of '86 which led to a ban on imported goods. It's really a sad story filled with nostalgia. Let the images below speak for themselves and you'll see Future CO of Silverbird empire as a 7 year old kid on the lap of Santa Claus in Kingsway Store.

Masco and leventis

if you watch shoppers guide on Saturdays in the late 80s and early 90s you can relate

It couldn't survival the Nigeria disease. TEC Terminal Economic Cancer.

oluxmondd2:
How can our throwback be better than our present? Naija which way?

Lol, I tire o. Nigeria is going backwards while the rest of the world is moving forward.

Kingsway and Leventis. Those were the shopping malls of the 70/80's.

I always liked the vibe of Lagos/Nigeria back in those vintage days. it seemed so organised, more sophisticated. society seemed more high trust than what is now the reality.

oluxmondd2:
How can our throwback be better than our present? Naija which way?

Nigeria was not good back then. Especially in the 1980s when Kingsway closed up. Oil prices crashed in 1982, and things went downhill from there.

That would be on father Christmas ' legs,oh dear,we didn't have much but we were truly happy.

Yes o, Kingsway back then. If you go to local market, and the seller gives you a exorbitant price, you will ask him or her, whether na Kingsway stores you dey.
Good old days.

The genzs won't be able to fathom. I remember the bathery charge you car and train popsy bought for me and my junior one then, thrilling. And a ton and jerry video player

Kingsway stores. Waoh. Good to remember. Just like UTC and Leventis stores then it Lagos. There was Chellarams too just before Kingsway. They were more than Shoprite. It was facing what was they known as Quay side or “key side” as everyone pronounced the entire front facing Lagos lagoon. It had very huge shopping floors with mostly foreign goods. You could purchase everything from groceries to food to household equipments, clothes, bicycles and the now famous Mr. Biggs situated on the ground floor at a time was known as Kingsway rendezvous! Kingsway was a branch of UAC and very well organized until horrible leaderships ensured that such stores as mentioned were shut down. People took off their shoes and slippers as they walked into the place believing that it was the rule. Security personnel at the doors would ask them to please wear their shoes and slippers. Na people from Mushin, Maroko and Ajegunle dey comot shoe for leg enter Kingsway, Leventis and UTC. They were considered bush people!

Each time you get to Marina, in front of Oando before CMS bus stop, you cannot but take a look at the building, where Kingsway was housed. The entire stretch of the road between Marina and Broad street right in front of Oando was Kingsway stores. Immediately you cross Apongbon under the bridge, it was Kingsway rendezvous by the left. Chop meat pie there and you no go chop am finish. There was the regular meatpie and the peppered meatpie. Lagos too sweet before abeg. The big building by the foot of Ojota bridge was Kingsway rendezvous. The next Kingsway rendezvous was at Niger motors bus stop, Apapa wharf. Lagos was good, not because it was beautiful, but the peace and too many places to visit. Kingsway stores had the only other Lagos showroom at Apapa, where you have the present Cash and carry stores. Infact the whole of that area is called “Kingsway” because of that Kingsway stores there. Right opposite them was UTC and adjacent to UTC was the then Leventis. That building was shared between Leventis stores and the defunct Roxy cinema. The floor containing Roxy cinema now is owned by RCCG, who I think bought it in the early 2000s. Those who lived in Apapa should know that. Leventis stores had a branch in Surulere at James Robertson. It was situated at the junction enroute through Akerele to what was and still as known as bus corner bus stop. Those who live around Ogunlana, Shitta, Masha, Randle Avenue, Lawsnson, etc should know the popular bus corner bus stop. Lagos too sweet and peaceful, before until politicians came in 1999 and brought divisions.

buenos116:
First to comment. What do I do with this space. Can I sell it at a price

Oya na. Sell it to Tinubu. He needs to address the good people of Nigeria

Nigeria ; when your past looked better and your future looks bleak .

Zeus123:
What a time to remember. When the economy was booming

Not in the 1980s. Maybe in the 1970s because of high oil prices. That ended in 1982. After that, hard hard times till 2005/6

Leventis bread, there's never a bread with that taste in Nigeria of today.

There was a very big Kingsway mart near us in Apapa, it was majorly patronize buy the white who lived in GRA, marine road. They majorly dispose their items that has a month or two shelf life because of their customer base.

Good old days

twin faja, gb, shoprite, prince ebano and co has taken over we in the 21st century not in black and white anymore. stop living in the past.

the period they where in existence many here shouting good old days their parent could not afford going shopping in those stores, now with lean 10k you can jazz in any store and buy whatever

Nothing like Santa then. Or Maybe na only big men children knows it as Santa.

Cos me na "Father Christmas" we dey call am during my childhood.. Not until when i became an adult that i started knowing that it is really called Santa clause.

Reference:
It couldn't survival the Nigeria disease. TEC Terminal Economic Cancer.

Nigeria's issue is that we rely on the income of whatever resource we sell.

The problem is we don't set the prices of our resources,be it crude oil, cocoa, cotton, groundnut, palm oil , etc etc.

So when prices rise, we enjoy good life. When prices are too low, we have issues. And we cannot raise the price unilaterally.

All that would have changed if we had focused on becoming an exporter of manufactured goods since independence. Goods whose prices we can set.

This is what we are talking about. PDP tried to bring out the memories by bringing in ShopRite and others. But APC say never village shopping is the best

AngelahFlo:
What led to its decline was the oil price of the mid 80s and the SAP sanction of '86 which led to a ban on imported goods. It's really a sad story filled with nostalgia. Let the images below speak for themselves and you'll see Future CO of Silverbird empire as a 7 year old kid on the lap of Santa Claus in Kingsway Store.[/b]

O duro bi Baby Kingsway.

"Baby Kingsway" would by now become a Grandmother niyen.
Bhojson on my mind too.

That comes about the slangs which says "This your price na kinsway o" when the price of a commodity is on the high side.

When Nigeria was Nigeriaying.... Kingsway, Sungas, Bata et al

Now we have ShopRite replicated and modernized shopping. But they are closing their stores one after the other

TOPCRUISE:
Now we have ShopRite replicated and modernized shopping. But they now they are closing their stores one after the other

That's how Leventis and Kingsway closed theirs, too. Life keeps evolving

femi4:
When Nigeria was Nigeriaying.... Kingsway, Sungas, Bata et al

That was not the Nigeria of the dreams of our founding fathers. That was a temporary arrangement to help a young nation.

Our independence goal was not meant to make Nigeria fully dependent on UK businesses that were actually fronts to continue to run things in Nigeria.

Nigeria is far greater now with indigenous brands taking on UK businesses and outcompeting them today. If we had depended on the Kingsway of the colonialists, we would not have the GTBs, Dangote, Seplat, Globacom etc today.

What you are hyping is the symbol of imperialism. Nations still under colonialists and imperialism like New Caledonia are suffering bitterly and see the 'Kingsways' on their land but only their French colonialists can afford the goods. Thank God Nigeria is not New Caledonia

TOPCRUISE:
Now we have ShopRite replicated and modernized shopping. But they now they are closing their stores one after the other

ShopRite is pulling out of all it's Africa branches. They want to focus on south Africa only.