The rise and fall, and rise and fall of Dominoes, Leicester

ScruffyLookingNH

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A (very) recent purchase caused me to look into a toy shop called Dominos in Leicester. It sounds like it was an absolutely amazing toyshop in it's day. Any forum members (looking at you, Laurence Dyer!) remember it or been there? Trying to get in touch with Steve Sansom who took it over from his father, Leonard, in the later 90s.

It went from being named the best independent toy retailer in Britain in 2011 to full closure in 2013. It opened up again in Fenwicks in Leicester in Feb 2015 but within 3 months closed it's doors again. Another victim of the high street collapse it seems.

A brief new report on it:

http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2013-09-09/administration-for-dominoes-toys/

The price label that prompted the interest. It must have been sold within the first year of trading as they didn't open their doors until 1983:

dominoes.JPG
 

lejackal

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ScruffyLookingNH said:
A (very) recent purchase caused me to look into a toy shop called Dominos in Leicester. It sounds like it was an absolutely amazing toyshop in it's day. Any forum members (looking at you, Laurence Dyer!) remember it or been there? Trying to get in touch with Steve Sansom who took it over from his father, Leonard, in the later 90s.

It went from being named the best independent toy retailer in Britain in 2011 to full closure in 2013. It opened up again in Fenwicks in Leicester in Feb 2015 but within 3 months closed it's doors again. Another victim of the high street collapse it seems.

A brief new report on it:

http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2013-09-09/administration-for-dominoes-toys/

The price label that prompted the interest. It must have been sold within the first year of trading as they didn't open their doors until 1983:

dominoes.JPG
Yep, I'm from Leicester originally and use to visit every weekend, from memory there was a change in levels between the front and the back of the original shop and next to this step there was a single rack of Star Wars figures, couldn't tell you what was on it unfortunately but this would've been 87-93 ish
 

ScruffyLookingNH

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lejackal said:
http://starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27385

It only occurred to me to search the forum after posting this up :roll:

Did you make it to the brief period they reopened at Fenwicks?
 

lejackal

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ScruffyLookingNH said:
lejackal said:
http://starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27385

It only occurred to me to search the forum after posting this up :roll:

Ha ha, no one searches for things, you should know that.
ScruffyLookingNH said:
Did you make it to the brief period they reopened at Fenwicks?

Sadly not, it was done and dusted by the time I decided to go back.
 

laurencedyer

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Dominoes was the toy shop in Leicester in the eighties.
I actually don't remember what figures I had or bought from my childhood but what I do recollect is they came from Dominoes.
Every week my mum would take me and my brother there with our pocket money and we would get a new figure.
The shop was a marvel only bettered by Mr Magorium's magic emporium!!!
It's main entrance was on the High Street and it had three floors to the main shop, what was on each floor during my childhood I couldn't tell you, maybe my mum and dad could tell me if you really needed to know.
As you walked in the door there was a level / room to the left that dropped down a step full of display cabinets, I assume for die cast and Warhammer type toys.
The first floor had a train track suspended from the ceiling running around the main shop and across the back of the till area, that was one of its attractions.
If you walked through to the end of the first floor there was another room in the back of that , Through that room there was yet another room / shop to the left that had an entrance out to Carts lane.
The Carts Lane side of the store had the main floor and there was steps that you could go down to a cellar room that was full of arts and crafts.

I actually tried to contact Steve Sansom a few years ago just after the closure of the store at Fenwicks but to no avail, Good luck and I hope you can get in touch with him Simon.

What I do have from Dominoes which for me personally I consider quite a cool part of history is a couple of there old display cabinets.

There is a single size cabinet in my front room and a double sixed cabinet in the Star Wars room.

Most of these item's are no longer with me any more :cry:

Single cabinet image then half of the double sized cabinet image.
20170805_200710.jpg
 

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ScruffyLookingNH

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laurencedyer said:
Dominoes was the toy shop in Leicester in the eighties.
I actually don't remember what figures I had or bought from my childhood but what I do recollect is they came from Dominoes.
Every week my mum would take me and my brother there with our pocket money and we would get a new figure.
The shop was a marvel only bettered by Mr Magorium's magic emporium!!!
It's main entrance was on the High Street and it had three floors to the main shop, what was on each floor during my childhood I couldn't tell you, maybe my mum and dad could tell me if you really needed to know.
As you walked in the door there was a level / room to the left that dropped down a step full of display cabinets, I assume for die cast and Warhammer type toys.
The first floor had a train track suspended from the ceiling running around the main shop and across the back of the till area, that was one of its attractions.
If you walked through to the end of the first floor there was another room in the back of that , Through that room there was yet another room / shop to the left that had an entrance out to Carts lane.
The Carts Lane side of the store had the main floor and there was steps that you could go down to a cellar room that was full of arts and crafts.

I actually tried to contact Steve Sansom a few years ago just after the closure of the store at Fenwicks but to no avail, Good luck and I hope you can get in touch with him Simon.

What I do have from Dominoes which for me personally I consider quite a cool part of history is a couple of there old display cabinets.

There is a single size cabinet in my front room and a double sixed cabinet in the Star Wars room.

Most of these item's are no longer with me any more :cry:

Single cabinet image then half of the double sized cabinet image.
20170805_200710.jpg

Great info, Laurence, thanks very much. He's an elusive guy to get hold of. He seems to be enjoying retirement having been director of about 10 different businesses. It sounds like Dominoes closure is a real loss. A toy shop on a Hamleys scale and spectacle. I'd say I hope the local authorities and Govt. sort out the high street decline before it's too late but when shops like this go, isn't it already too late?

Those are some great cabinets there. Nice you've managed to retain at least a little Dominoes history.
 

Dannywhiteley

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I remember a dominoes toy shop in my local town (Sale, south of Manchester). Do you know if the Leicester shop was a complete independent or part of a small chain?
 

Ridleski

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Hi there! Just revitalising this old post. Dominoes was my local toy shop in the 80s and where I bought most of my figures. I picked up this Dengar recently and was transported right back there! Miss this place. It was absolutely brilliant and a proper dreamland for children.
 

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Very old post now. Dominoes was my first job. Stayed with them for 6 years from 2006 mostly in models department. I remember those cabinets. Hope you got the ones that weren't a pain in the ass to open. Place was run by three brothers for most of my time with them. Steven , Adrian and Phillip. Owned a big chunk of high Street and bought out and ran Mail Order Express as the online arm after that hit its own difficulties. Was feeling nostalgic and found this post. Loved the place as a kid then worked there. Had some really good times.
 

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