Retro futuristic concept drawings for branded stores in the 1950s. I really dig the look and the color schemes.
Images via the Ultra Swank Photo Group
Don't know what to spend that extra cash on? Don't worry, there is still time. Our stores are open at convenient times and located just around the corner here in Yester Sweden. Today we are traveling back in time to visit Stockholm and Hudiksvall (north of Stockholm) where you can slowly waltz through the many isles of exotic groceries, the latest fashion, brand new color TV models and still have some time left over for a coffee and cupcake at one of the many cafes. Typical anchor stores of the time were ICA, Domus and Tempo – sadly only the first one is still alive. For more shopping goodness, check out the other parts of this ongoing series of retro retail mania. More photos can be found after the jump.
I found some more photos of my favorite shopping mall in southern Sweden - Väla Centrum. It was built in 1974 outside of Helsingborg and took its inspiration from American shopping malls at the time - meaning that it didn't look very Scandinavian or traditional, which I really love. It even had a birdcage with live canaries up until the mid 1980s. For more information and photos of the shopping center, see my earlier post about it.
Found these great vintage photos taken at two different ICA stores in Gothenburg, Sweden. Most likely taken for publicity reasons for use in catalogs or magazines. ICA is one the largest retail chains in Sweden, started back in 1938 and today boasting over 1 600 stores nationwide. Can't help thinking how Americanized the ICA store top photo looks like.
More retro photos of Domus stores in Sweden. Why? Because it's good for you. Someone please bring back Domus, we miss you. Oh and clean up on aisle three.
We haven't visited the golden age of shopping for a while, so why not take a waltz down the aisles once again. This time we are focusing on the Swedish department store chain Domus (house in latin). It was owned by the Consumer Corporation (KF) who in their glory days had over 200 stores throughout the country. Sadly, business was slowly beginning to come to a halt in the 1980s and many of the bigger stores were redeveloped to mini malls or sold. Personally I think that the Domus stores still are the coolest stores ever to exist and Sweden and I miss them in a silly - but kitschy way.
Time again for another visit to some various Swedish shopping centers, as they looked back in the golden days of consuming. This time featuring Stockholm and Gothenburg. Do not forget to listen to "Retro Shopping Volume 1" while looking at the photos for the perfect mood setter.
Here are two postcards showing the old NK department store in Malmö, Sweden. NK (Nordiska Kompaniet / The Nordic Company) is one of the oldest merchandise companies in Sweden. The first, and biggest store opened in Stockholm in 1915 and featured Sweden's first escalators. Soon NK also had stores in Gothenburg and Malmö. The department store in Malmö was opened in 1963, but it was short lived due to very high maintenance costs. I remember visiting NK in Malmö when I was younger in the mid 1980s, I believe that the store was closed just a couple of years later. The building still stands there today, but it has been converted to a indoor shopping arcade called Hansa Compagniet - a very boring and typical looking shopping place.
Ultra Swank takes you back in time into the kitsch, chic and swank living of the 50s to the 70s. We mainly focus on the design, architecture and the lifestyle of the happy-go-lucky and space-age-living mentality from that era - but also on the mood music that takes you back to happier times. Ultra Swank is run by Chris who resides in Sweden. More | Contact
Ultra Swank has been around for almost three years now and I thought it would be a good idea to check in with my readers. So if you are a frequent reader of this blog, I would very much like to know what you think of it.
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The luscious collaboration with British lifestyle magazine Chic Today proceeds. Here is the fourth article by me, it is lovingly called Fly me friendly and continues my fascination of air travel and stewardesses in its golden age. The article can be found in their magazine available in a interactive form or as downloadable PDF-file (links [...]
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