The shops I remember buying my computers/games from are either closed up many years ago or no longer sell computer related things. I'll write these in chronological order.
Boots.
At one time Boots used to sell computers and games. They had quite a big selection. The computer section would cover about 4 or 5 isles in the store which they put in one section. My parents had bought me a C64 for my 12th birthday from Boots. It was a batman themed game pack. The good thing about Boots selling that kinda thing was whenever I had to go out with my parents shopping they could take me to Boots and leave me in that section for a couple of hours!
WHSmith
My memories of this store are mainly about computer magazines. They stocked nearly every computer or console magazine you could imagine. Some of the magazines were thick with a lot to read. People used to stand in front of the magazines rack and be half reading them. So everyone was moving around each other and reaching for their favourite magazine. Reading computer magazines was how I learned to read. The store also used to stock some games in a different area. It used to be near the music section. It wasnt a big area and if I was looking for games that would be the last place I'd look. But if I happened to be in there buying a magazine I would often drift to the back of the store too.
Vudata in Ashton-under-lyne.
I don't know how I found this shop as I don't even live in Tameside. But I remember buying my Amiga 500 from there. It was an independent shop on Stamford Street. I think in its time it moved further up too. But in the early days I remember my dad taking me to the computer shop on Saturdays, the highlight of my weekend. I looked out of the window and seeing people literally backed up to the door. The first place they had it was nearly always very busy. They would have the walls stacked with games boxes from the small budget titles (£0.99p to £3.99) to the bigger boxes that were usually £15 upwards. Each wall of the shop was filled with games for all the different systems, From the C64 and Spectrum games, to the Amiga and the Atari. Towards the back of the shop were games for systems that didn't have a big range. BBC, Macs and PC's.
The funny thing was how quiet it would be even with so many people in the shop. Normally you'd hear the computers, usually an Atari or Amiga in demo mode blasting out tunes that made you want to look, even when trying to jockey for position to reach to see the latest games on the shelves.
When I was older and was attending a nearby college I was going to do a 2 week work experience there. But sadly it was cut short as they were shutting up shop.
Ramsoft in Rochdale.
The other shop that holds memories for me was a little shop at the top of Drake Street in Rochdale. Another hidden away shop and I'm not sure how I found it. I was older by this time and was well in to the Amiga scene. It was nearly entirely focused on the Amiga and Atari. I remember the people who worked there seemed like a group of friends. That was the first time I saw X-Copy in action, as they would be sat at computers doing all kinds of things while the customers looked around. It was only a small shop but whenever any new game was due to be released they would always have it. I think thats were I bought the CD32 console. I only remember having a couple of games with it and can't remember going to back to buy any games for it as Commodore was in collapse by then.
Ok, thats my probably long winded memories. Does anyone else have any memories of back in the day of buying their first computer or consoles, and the shops we used to go to?
Boots.
At one time Boots used to sell computers and games. They had quite a big selection. The computer section would cover about 4 or 5 isles in the store which they put in one section. My parents had bought me a C64 for my 12th birthday from Boots. It was a batman themed game pack. The good thing about Boots selling that kinda thing was whenever I had to go out with my parents shopping they could take me to Boots and leave me in that section for a couple of hours!
WHSmith
My memories of this store are mainly about computer magazines. They stocked nearly every computer or console magazine you could imagine. Some of the magazines were thick with a lot to read. People used to stand in front of the magazines rack and be half reading them. So everyone was moving around each other and reaching for their favourite magazine. Reading computer magazines was how I learned to read. The store also used to stock some games in a different area. It used to be near the music section. It wasnt a big area and if I was looking for games that would be the last place I'd look. But if I happened to be in there buying a magazine I would often drift to the back of the store too.
Vudata in Ashton-under-lyne.
I don't know how I found this shop as I don't even live in Tameside. But I remember buying my Amiga 500 from there. It was an independent shop on Stamford Street. I think in its time it moved further up too. But in the early days I remember my dad taking me to the computer shop on Saturdays, the highlight of my weekend. I looked out of the window and seeing people literally backed up to the door. The first place they had it was nearly always very busy. They would have the walls stacked with games boxes from the small budget titles (£0.99p to £3.99) to the bigger boxes that were usually £15 upwards. Each wall of the shop was filled with games for all the different systems, From the C64 and Spectrum games, to the Amiga and the Atari. Towards the back of the shop were games for systems that didn't have a big range. BBC, Macs and PC's.
The funny thing was how quiet it would be even with so many people in the shop. Normally you'd hear the computers, usually an Atari or Amiga in demo mode blasting out tunes that made you want to look, even when trying to jockey for position to reach to see the latest games on the shelves.
When I was older and was attending a nearby college I was going to do a 2 week work experience there. But sadly it was cut short as they were shutting up shop.
Ramsoft in Rochdale.
The other shop that holds memories for me was a little shop at the top of Drake Street in Rochdale. Another hidden away shop and I'm not sure how I found it. I was older by this time and was well in to the Amiga scene. It was nearly entirely focused on the Amiga and Atari. I remember the people who worked there seemed like a group of friends. That was the first time I saw X-Copy in action, as they would be sat at computers doing all kinds of things while the customers looked around. It was only a small shop but whenever any new game was due to be released they would always have it. I think thats were I bought the CD32 console. I only remember having a couple of games with it and can't remember going to back to buy any games for it as Commodore was in collapse by then.
Ok, thats my probably long winded memories. Does anyone else have any memories of back in the day of buying their first computer or consoles, and the shops we used to go to?
I remember entering the Starwing challenge and Donkey Kong Country challenge too but never getting anywhere close to the top of the leaderboard. It went on to become Electronics Boutique and then Game, but I'll always have fond memories of Future Zone 
