STORE CRAWL: Hancock & Wood in Warrington

Location - Bridge Street Warrington (Also has an entrance on Times Square)

Estabilshed - 1914

History - Still owned by the Hancock family to this day, the store has alway been in Bridge Street. The store used to have an arcade at the front, A little shop opened in the nearby village of Stockton Heath in the 1960s

Departments - Cafe, Gifts, Shoes, Hoisery, Lingerie, Young Fashion, Bridal, Hairdressers, Childrenswear, Toys, Handbags, Purses, Umbrellas, Ladies Fashion & Ladies Casual Wear.

Quirks - Nice  1960s/1970s Staircase. Cafe has high ceilings. Brilliant Frontage, with big Flag over the top of the store.

Review

   I often visit this store, It is the nearest store to me and I can reguarly be found in the cafe. The store offers great customer service and has a wide selection of goods, meaning that if they have not got it on show, they will usually have it somewhere.

 I'm a bit limited when reviewing this store (I'm a man, and it's products are targeted more towards the women.) However it offers some good top quality gifts and homewears. However, many female friends / relatives of all ages buy there underwear from here. I also buy alot of presents from here.

   I also love the cafe upstairs, It offers a range of cold / hot meals, drinks and also has the friendly service that is evident in the rest of the store.

   Alot of people will remember the arcade at the front of the store. Well this has now gone, but it's attractive facade with canopy, flowers and flagpole is still there and it has nice big widow displays, which compared to the cardboard ones of chainstores, is a nice little find and a rarity these days. It makes you think where has the fun gone from shopping?

  It may be viewed by many as an older persons store by outsiders, but it actually has a cult following with younger shoppers too and has recently introduced a young fashion label : Niche.

It's good to know that this family run store is still going from strength to strength and is still competing well, even though it is on the opposite side of town to the new Golden Square. I personally would love this store to move into the old Boots or TJ Hughes and make a larger store with menswear e.t.c. This is probably not going to happen but there's always hopeing.

As for the store as it is, Id give it a top 10/10