Remember this? Victoria Market

It was a sad day when Victoria Market finally closed its doors at the end of the Christmas trading period in December 2010. Then in December 2022, the M&Co store which replaced it also went into administration. But it didn’t stay empty for long. The town centre store is now home to Peacocks fashion store.

This site before Victoria Market… Savoy Cinema

Are you a member of the Thornton Cleveleys Past Facebook Group? (TCP) It’s packed full of interesting information, photos and anecdotes about the area.

TCP tells us that Victoria Market was originally the Savoy, with a cafe, cinema and ballroom. One of the incarnations was burnt down and demolished.

Nick Moore’s fascinating History of Blackpool fills in the gaps. His comprehensive resource tells us that the Savoy Cinema and attached cafe were opened in the Palace Theatre buildings in November 1915, with a ballroom and shopping arcade attached.

The highs and lows of The Savoy

Sadly the Savoy Cafe was burned to the ground in December 1917, complete with it’s first floor eating area – Ye Olde Knights Gallery.

In World War 2 the ballroom became an amusement arcade – only to reopen as a ballroom again in 1949.

Kathie Bellas remembers the cinema, café and ballroom, going there on a regular basis during her time growing up in Cleveleys. She also remembers the ballroom was an amusement arcade during the war and then reopened at the end of the 1940’s (in the photo below it’s where the gift shop is).

By 1947 it had a small dance hall attached, before being bought by Fylde Cinemas Ltd not long after. The Savoy Cinema closed on 23 September 1960.

Julie sent us a photo of the Savoy that her dad had – along with an interesting story. Watch this film to find out more –

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Supermarket days

In 1962 the site was to become Cooper’s Supermarket, with Fairclay’s store next door. Then it was a Co-operative Store selling food on the ground floor and household goods upstairs. We certainly remember the distinctive ‘Co-op’ logo on the door handles, right up to it closing. After a spell as a Fine Fare supermarket it became Victoria Market – and that closed for good on 6 January 2011.

Have you got anything to add? Please leave a comment below. Or you can email your information and any photos to jane@theRabbitPatch.co.uk Full credit will be given (of course!).

Victoria Market…

For many years it had served thousands of customers, with stalls selling all kinds of things. These photos were taken in the final week before its closure on 6 January 2011 –

Many of the original stall holders quickly relocated into individual shops along the high street. Dave’s Sweets went on Nutter Road across from Wilkinson’s (now Millstores). Philips Jewellers opened a shop to the right of Home Bargains. The pet stall and jigsaw stall, Ashworth’s Pets and Puzzles, now share a shop next door to Fleetwood Produce on Victoria Road West.

M&Co Acquire the Victoria Market Site

M&Co quickly staked their claim to the prime town centre site. Their planning application was passed in August 2011 to demolish and rebuild the market as a new flagship town centre store.

The original plan was for trading on two floors, although that was scaled back to a single storey. The new build goes into the open air back-area of the former market where the Howards plants and vegetables stalls were, creating another back entrance and short cut through the building. The ‘Elegant Touch’ shop on the outer corner remains.

Rumour had it that part of the reason why the market closed was the poor state of repair of the building and the cost of the improvements which were required. The complete rebuild has greatly improved this prominent corner of the high street.

After Victoria Market had been closed for a while, there was fly tipping at the rear of the building and broken windows at the front. M&Co boarded the front and back of the plot and added their own advertising hoardings to stake their claim.

Some were damaged in the high winds over the Christmas and New Year period to reveal just what an eyesore the building was! They were later replaced.

Building the new M&Co on the Victoria Market Site

The framework of the former market was left in place, but all of the shell of the building was removed and rebuilt. It was interesting to watch the progress of the site through the fence.

What Became of the Old M&Co Shop?

M&Co didn’t actually move very far along Victoria Road West at Cleveleys. They had previously occupied two stores on our high street.

The mens and childrenswear store was originally located over the road in a separate shop, where Heron Foods is now. That closed in 2012 and most of the stock took a day trip along the high street to its new home in the ladieswear shop!

Just a few doors further along Victoria Road was the ladieswear shop. Back then it was on two floors, and occupied the full space which is now Holland and Barrett and Boots Opticians. Just before it closed it was used as a clearance store, which is when the next photo was taken in November 2014.

What was to become of the large unit became the next mystery, with Iceland rumoured to be taking the store over. Plans were lodged for new, red shop windows in the Iceland style, and builders even appeared to do a couple of weeks work. Obviously the deal fell through, although some years later Iceland did take the former Tesco store.

The large former M&Co shop was eventually split into two smaller units. It was another blot on the landscape while the deals were underway! Now though it is Holland and Barrett and Boots Opticians.

The New M&Co

After four long years, conversion of the Victoria Market site was complete and the new M&Co opened. Visit Cleveleys went along to have a look – along with the rest of Cleveleys by the look of it! The shop was packed out for the big reveal.

Now, the building looks like it’s always been there.

Closure of M&Co

But on Friday 9 December 2022, the UK high street was dealt another blow with the news that the M&Co chain had collapsed into administration, for the second time in two years. It was bad news for Cleveleys too, with our store included in the debacle.

Closing down signs festooned the shop, with everything inside sold off. Shoppers had their fingers crossed that a new buyer could be found for the business. Sadly that wasn’t to be and on Saturday 22 April 2023 M&Co closed the doors for the final time. We were there to record this part of town centre history –

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Peacocks Arrives

But Cleveleys is a vibrant, busy town where retailers do well so the store didn’t stay empty for long. On Friday 7 July 2023, fashion retailer Peacocks opened its new store. It’s a bright and modern shop with a great range of ladies, men’s and childrenswear.

The store layout of M&Co can still be seen, with dual aspect doors at both Princes Road and the main entrance at Victoria Road West. The changing rooms and cash desks are also in the same place too. It’s a big addition to the town, selling a good variety of seasonal fashion at great prices.