Oldrids UK - Revision history

Elliogle at 03:00, 23 December 2025

2025-12-23T03:00:42Z

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	\| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:6px;" \|		\| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:6px;" \|
	[[File:Oldrids_Logo.png\|250px\|alt=~~American Laser Games logo~~]]		[[File:Oldrids_Logo.png\|250px\|alt=Oldrids]]
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	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; width:40%; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Company type		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; width:40%; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Company type

Elliogle at 01:59, 23 December 2025

2025-12-23T01:59:25Z

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	\| style="text-align:center;" \| [[File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg\|60px\|frameless\|link=File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg]]		\| style="text-align:center;" \| [[File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg\|60px\|frameless\|link=File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg]]
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			[[Category:UK Retailer]]

Elliogle: /* Adverts */

2025-12-23T01:55:47Z

Adverts

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	{\| class="wikitable sortable" style="table-layout:auto;"		{\| class="wikitable sortable" style="table-layout:auto;"
	~~\|+ Newspaper Advert Previews~~
	! Publication		! Publication
	! Region		! Region

Elliogle at 01:55, 23 December 2025

2025-12-23T01:55:15Z

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	==Overview==		==Overview==

	~~American Laser Games were another big supporter~~ of the ~~3DO~~, ~~even using its hardware~~ in ~~some of~~ its ~~arcade cabinets~~.		Oldrid & Co., Limited, trading as Downtown is a chain of two retail department stores in Lincolnshire, UK. The business formerly also operated stores under the Oldrids name, until the closure of the last store under that brand in 2022. The first Oldrids store opened in Boston in 1804, and expanded to include stores in Grantham, Scunthorpe, Lincoln and Gainsborough at its peak.

			==History==

	==~~History~~==		The first Oldrids store was opened in Boston, Lincolnshire in 1804 by John Oldrid and Richard Hyde. The store expanded through purchase of neighboring buildings until it encompassed many separate sites, including a furniture store on New Street. The current Oldrids Boston building was constructed in 1970 following the demolition of the former building in 1969.

			A move into out-of-town stores followed in the 1980s including the construction of Downtown in Wyberton Fen, on the outskirts of Boston, in 1981 and Downtown Grantham, at Gonerby Moor, in 1989. The Grantham branch was a tie up with Boundary Mill stores, who lease half of the building. A separate Downtown branded garden centre was added to the site in 1998.

			===Expansion===

			Further expansion took place in 2013 when Lincolnshire Co-op decided to exit their department store business, transferring their homestore branches in Lincoln and Gainsborough to Oldrids, although retaining the leaseholds themselves. All staff transferred across as part of the deal and the stores were rebranded Downtown and Oldrids respectively.

			In 2016, Central England Co-op sold their Westgate department store in Scunthorpe to Oldrids, who later rebranded it to Downtown in September of that year. The store had previously operated as Upton's and Binns (owned by House of Fraser), with the entrance way to the building still sporting the Binns name in stone to this day. It operated as the chain's outlet centre, with the top floor selling discounted products.

			===Closures===

			In June 2017 it was announced that the Downtown Lincoln store previously purchased from Lincolnshire Co-op would close, with Oldrids citing it as 'loss-making'. The store closed a month later.

			Oldrids also announced that they would not be renewing the lease for their Gainsborough department store, leading to its closure in January 2018.

	~~American Laser Games was a company based in Albuquerque~~, ~~New Mexico~~ that ~~created numerous light gun laserdisc video games featuring live action full motion video. The company was founded~~ in the ~~late 1980s by Robert Grebe~~, ~~who had originally created a system~~ to ~~train police officers under~~ the ~~company~~ name ~~ICAT (Institute for Combat Arms~~ and Tactics) and later adapted the technology for arcade games. Its first hit game was Mad Dog McCree, a light gun shooter set in the American Old West. By mid-1995 they were recognized as the leading company in the ~~medium of laserdisc-based arcade games. Almost all arcade games released by the company were light gun shooters and a number of them also had an Old West theme~~.		In July 2020, Oldrids announced that their original Boston department store would not reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to ensure the future viability of the business, bringing to an end the use of the Oldrids brand name and their two hundred year history in the town.

	~~Later~~, ~~the company turned toward compact disc technology~~ to ~~release its games. Ports of its arcade titles were released for~~ the ~~Sega CD, CD-i and DOS computers equipped with CD-ROM drives~~. The ~~company was particularly supportive of~~ the ~~3DO~~, ~~not only releasing versions of its games for~~ the console, but also offering a modified version of the 3DO platform as an upgrade kit for existing arcade video game cabinets, supporting compressed video versions of their games at a lower cost. In 1995, American Laser Games released Mazer for the 3DO home market and Orbatak (3DO-powered) for the arcade - their first and only in-house non-Full motion video based games. The ~~company also released a series of light-gun controllers, including the 3DO Game Gun and the PC Gamegun, for home computer use. The latter proved unsuccessful due to its poor accuracy~~.		In December 2021, it was reported that Oldrids' store in Scunthorpe was to close the following month. The developments surfaced via shop staff informing customers about the closure, with Oldrids declining to officially confirm the reports. The shop duly closed on 29 January 2022.

	American Laser Games lasted until the mid-to-late 1990s, by which time it had begun making "games for girls" for the PC under the moniker Her Interactive, beginning with McKenzie & Co. In response to a major slump in the arcade industry, American Laser Games ended its direct manufacturing of ~~coin-op machines in November 1995~~, ~~and turned its focus to developing games for the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. This failed to revive~~ the company's fortunes, and revenues in 1996 were roughly half of the $16 million it generated in 1995. At the end of 1996 ALG laid off a third of its staff, Jan Claesson replaced Grebe as president, and the company began focusing primarily on the Her Interactive line, cancelling all the games in their mainstream line except for Shining Sword. The company eventually closed its doors and was bought out ~~by Her Interactive, which had been spun off before ALG closing and is still making games as~~ of ~~January 2018. In 2000, the development~~ and ~~publishing rights~~ to ~~all of the games that were produced by American Laser Games were purchased by Digital Leisure, Inc from Her Interactive. Many of these games were then re-released for the PC and in DVD TV game format~~.		===Current operations===
			As of December 2025, only the out-of-town Downtown stores at Boston and Grantham continue to trade.

	==Adverts==		==Adverts==

Elliogle at 01:52, 23 December 2025

2025-12-23T01:52:30Z

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	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Website		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Website
	\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| [https://www.downtownstores.co.uk]		\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| [https://www.downtownstores.co.uk downtownstores.co.uk]
	\|}		\|}

Elliogle at 01:51, 23 December 2025

2025-12-23T01:51:56Z

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	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Website		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Website
	\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| [https://www.downtownstores.co.uk/]		\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| [https://www.downtownstores.co.uk]
	\|}		\|}

Elliogle at 01:50, 23 December 2025

2025-12-23T01:50:50Z

Elliogle: /* Adverts */

2025-12-23T01:44:58Z

Adverts

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	\| {{Flag-gb}}		\| {{Flag-gb}}
	\| 15 Sep 1994		\| 15 Sep 1994
	\| [[File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg\|60px\|frameless\|link=File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg]]		\| style="text-align:center;" \| [[File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg\|60px\|frameless\|link=File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg]]
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Elliogle: /* Adverts */

2025-12-23T01:44:27Z

Adverts

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	\| Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian		\| Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian
	~~\| style="text-align:center;"~~ \| {{Flag-gb}}		\| {{Flag-gb}}
	~~\| style="text-align:center; white-space:nowrap;"~~ \| 15 Sep 1994		\| 15 Sep 1994
	~~\| style="text-align:center;"~~ \| [[File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg\|60px\|frameless\|link=File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg]]		\| [[File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg\|60px\|frameless\|link=File:Newspaper Ad 1994-09-15 - Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian UK - Oldrids.jpg]]
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Elliogle: /* Adverts */

2025-12-23T01:43:58Z

Adverts

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	\|+ Newspaper Advert Previews		\|+ Newspaper Advert Previews
	! Publication		! Publication
	! ~~style="text-align:center; width:60px;" \|~~ Region		! Region
	! ~~style="text-align:center; width:110px;" \|~~ Date		! Date
	! style="text-align:center; width:120px;" \| Preview		! style="text-align:center; width:120px;" \| Preview
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	! colspan="2" style="background:#eaecf0; text-align:center; padding:6px; font-size:110%;" \|		! colspan="2" style="background:#eaecf0; text-align:center; padding:6px; font-size:110%;" \|
	~~American Laser Games~~		Oldrids
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	\| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:6px;" \|		\| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:6px;" \|
	[[File:~~American_Laser_Games_Company_Logo~~.png\|250px\|alt=American Laser Games logo]]		[[File:Oldrids_Logo.png\|250px\|alt=American Laser Games logo]]
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	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; width:40%; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Company type		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; width:40%; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Company type
	\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| ~~Publisher~~		\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Retailer
	\|-		\|-
	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Founded		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Founded
	\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| ~~Late 1980s~~		\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| 1804
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	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Status		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Status
	\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| ~~Ceased late 1990s; sold to Her Interactive~~		\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Trading
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	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Headquarters		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Headquarters
	\| style="padding:4px 6px; white-space:normal; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \|		\| style="padding:4px 6px; white-space:normal; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \|
	~~4801 Lincoln Road NE~~<br>		Downtown Store, Gonerby Moor<br>
	~~Albuquerque~~, ~~NM 87109~~<br>		Grantham, NG32 2AB<br>
	~~USA~~		UK
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	! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Website		! style="text-align:left; padding:4px 6px; background:#f1f3f5; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| Website
	\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| [~~http~~://~~algames~~.~~com algames~~.~~com~~]		\| style="padding:4px 6px; border-top:1px solid #fff;" \| [https://www.downtownstores.co.uk/]
	\|}		\|}