ABSTRACT
The Co-op was one of five vast department stores in the Castlegate district of Sheffield City Centre. The Co-op’s extraordinary early 1960s building was the finest and largest of the department stores in the area. Like the rest of Sheffield, The Moor struggled in the 1990s as its Habitat, Hamleys and Marks & Spencer closed, and other retailers were lured by the bright lights of Meadowhall. The history of Meadowhall, as told in Sheffield, is that it was imposed on the city by a government-sponsored development corporation in the face of local opposition, but the truth is more complicated. Sheffield is a good place to start when diagnosing what ails the high street. Sheffield may be an extreme example of a post-retail city, but it is also a good place to start because, despite its decline as a shopping centre, it is thriving as a city.
