Littlewoods arrived in Dundee in 1968 and became one of the most famous and fondly remembered stores in the city. Crumbling tenements in the Overgate were replaced by a £2 million shopping centre. Littlewoods opened in October 1968.
Dundee had certainly never seen scenes like this before. People queued all night. Gift vouchers of £5 each were presented to the first six customers.
The Courier said between 500 and 600 women armed with shopping bags “surged into the building” when Lord Provost Alexander MacKenzie cut the ribbon. There were so many customers crowding the sales floor that staff had to leave the building to get from the front to the rear. Littlewoods management realised that even if they had two sales floors the store would still have been overcrowded.
Business was booming from the moment the store opened. The store’s restaurant became one of the city’s most popular eating places. The window seats were what everyone wanted.
Littlewoods hatched a plan to expand at the turn of the decade. Workmen spent several months banging and hammering behind the scenes. In October 1971, the selling area was extended to the first floor, including expanding the self-service restaurant to nearly twice its old size.
There were now 236 seats “plus the latest in décor and modern furnishing”. An Evening Telegraph advertising feature said there was now more room for everyone to “eat, drink and relax in comfort, without spending a fortune”. The dishes on sale were “a.
