Buildings - Goldbergs department store, High Riggs, Tollcross, Edinburgh

Goldbergs

Department Store

1960 to 1990

Goldbergs department store was ahead of its time when it opened at High Riggs, Tollcross, Edinburgh in 1960. It was a modern construction on five floors, with roof garden, nursery and menagerie.

The store, with its copper sculptures at either side of the entrance at the top of a flight of stairs, was originally closed on Saturdays due to the owner's Jewish faith.

It was intended to be the showpiece in a new road system for Tollcross, but the new roads were never built.

Competition from elsewhere in Edinburgh, particularly the new St James Centre at the East End of Princes Street in the 1970s, made trading conditions difficult. Goldbergs finally closed in 1990.

New offices for the Bank of Scotland have now been built on the site.

'Edinburgh Shops, Past and Present' [Malcolm Cant] AND Edinburgh Evening News, October 14, 2005 [Grant Scott]

Recollections

Craig Herbertson

Witten, German

Thank you to Craig Herbertson, Witten, Germany, for supplying the photograph above, and for his recollections of Goldbergs.

Craig wrote:

Escalators

"I remember being taken by mother up the escalator at Goldbergs - the only escalator in the world as far as I knew.

Rooftop

There was an exotic rooftop where you could have a coffee. My mum would sit with my aunt and chat. I sensed, for her, this was high living on a par with being in a Bond movie. That could well have been 1969."

Craig Herbertson, Witten, Germany: April 28, 2006

Recollections

Dorothy Jeremy

Suffolk, England

Thank you to Dorothy Jeremy, now Dorothy Land, for sending me her recollections of Goldberg's.

Dorothy wrote:

1961

"My grandmother, Dorothy Aspey, took me to Goldbergs store just after it opened, possibly in 1961. I remember two things:

- a magical display of leather gloves on a 'tree', the gloves arranged to look like leaves. How surreal and avant garde was THAT!

- I think the doors were automatic? There was a family story, going the rounds, that my Uncle Tommy rushed at the doors to open them, they opened automatically and he fell through. It sounds unlikely, but he WAS accident prone to an alarming degree!

It was indeed a glamorous, adventurous place to shop."

Dorothy Land, (nee Jeremy), Suffolk, England: May 31, 2007

Recollections

Lesley Maasdorp, nee Gillies

England

Thank you to Lesley Maasdorp for adding her memories of Goldbergs to the EdinPhoto Guest Book.

Lesley lived in Balgreen, Edinburgh. She emigrated to South Africa in the 1970s and is now living in England.

Lesley wrote:

1960s

"I have such fond memories of Mum taking me Christmas Shopping, and letting me ride on the merry-go-round at Goldbergs - and the entrance at Christmas with all the robot Disney characters.

Oh to be a child again. Thank you so much, not only for that memory, but all the others that came flooding back, Newhaven, Musselburgh, Portobello etc."

Lesley Maasdorp, nee Gillies, England: October 16, 2007

Recollections

Fiona Palmer (nee Jack)

Brighton, Sussex, England

Thank you to Fiona Palmer who wrote:

Macaw

"I was born in Edinburgh in 1960 and regularly went to Goldbergs at Tollcross as we lived at Viewforth.

I remember there was a blue and gold macaw parrot in the roof garden which was the highlight of our visits!"

Fiona Palmer (nee Jack), Brighton, Sussex, England: November 19, 2011

Recollections

Nicola Hancock

Haltwhistle, Northumberland, England

Thank you to Nicola Hancock who wrote:

Nana

"It was great seeing this photo of Goldberg's

My nana worked in the store for many years and I used to love going in when we picked her up from work. It was like a fantasy land for a child.

I loved getting a Fondant Fancy in the restaurant on the top floor and then going out on to the roof and seeing the birds and fish.

My nana is now 91 and we still talk about the days when she worked at Goldberg's. It would be great to see more photos"

Nicola Hancock, Haltwhistle, Northumberland, England: February 18, 2012 (2 emails)

Recollections

Joy Mikulandra (nee Wyatt)

Australia

Thank you to Joy Mikulandra who wrote:

Goldbergs with Mum

"I loved seeing that photo of Goldbergs Dept store. What a wonderful place it was!

. ©

I lived in Hailsland, Wester Hailes, from 1971 to 1974, from age 6 to 9. Mum, Agnes Wyatt (nee Agnes Forbes McKenzie) - a Kiwi from Leith - loved to take us into town for special occasions like Christmas."

My Coat

"I remember, I had a photo, now lost, of my sister Fiona and me, all dressed up in our winter coats. Mine was a maroon maxi with a fur trim on the wrist and hemline. I think there may have been a hood as well. Boy, I loved that coat.

On the photo, we were standing in front of the window displays I loved gazing in at them as they were automated."

A Job at the Store

"My nana worked in Goldberg's store for many years. I used to love going in there when we picked her up from work. It was like a fantasy land for a child. I loved getting a Fondant Fancy in the restaurant on the top floor and then going out on to the roof and seeing the birds and fish."

More Photos

"My nana is now 91 and we still talk about the days when she worked at Goldberg's. It would be great to see more photos."

Joy Mikulandra (nee Wyatt): February 5, 2013