From fallen high street giants like BHS, C&A and Toys R US to cherished independent stores like Casey’s sweet shop, Jenners department store, many of these businesses have sadly shut their doors for goods since these nostalgic pictures were captured.
But others have weathered the storms, including Covid and online shopping, and are still flourishing all these years later.
Toy shops, record stores, award-winning butchers and fishmongers, and fashion outlets are among the firms pictured in this retro photo gallery.
Chart-toppers Wet, Wet Wet, and the legendary ballet dancer Dame Margot Fonteyn are among the famous visitors pictured, at HMV and a famous Glasgow bookstore, respectively.
But these atmospheric images also show ordinary customers, from an 18-month-old getting fitted for shoes and a young girl playing with Sylvanian Families characters to one of the first shoppers through the doors of a new Argos store.
Among the shops pictured is the fabulously named Sheepish Looks knitwear store, the treasure trove discount outlet Ali’s Cave, and a fishmonger’s with a very unusual catch on display.
How many of these stores do you recognise, and what shop from the 80s do you miss most?
For more 80s nostalgia, why not check out this look back at the most popular perfumes and aftershaves of the decade?
13. Sheepish Looks
Bill Baber and wife Helen Baber, owners of the Sheepish Looks knitwear shop in Edinburgh's Grassmarket, with some of their designs, in April 1987 | TSPL
14. Sweets
Maria Raffaelli, owner of a sweet shop on West Maitland Street, Edinburgh, with traditional sweet moulds, in June 1984 | TSPL
15. HMV
Scottish band Wet Wet Wet at the HMV shop on Princes Street, Edinburgh, where they signed records in September 1987. Pictured from left to right are Marti Pellow, Tommy Cunningham, Graeme Clark and Neil Mitchell. | TSPL
16. Russell & Bromley
18-month-old Mark Robertson gets his feet measured for new shoes at children's shoe shop Russell & Bromley on Edinburgh's Princes Street in May 1989 | TSPL