Frasers no more!

I'm glad to hear this building has been put on the market . Perhaps it will be restored to some of its former glory now although it is apparently most likely to end up as an hotel.
House of Fraser have allowed it to deteriorate into a very poor 2nd rate store ever since they bought Jenners. The upper floors are depressing and I have never seen any reason to shop there for a long time.
Back to Swannie's theme, this was the first place I ever worked when I was 15. I was a Saturday girl in the accounts dept and part of my role was to cover for staff breaks in the cash booths which were on every floor. The rest of my time was split between the accounts dept on the top floor and the tube room which was in the basement. I used to work with the money and bills which were sent via the tube system. We used to write up the account entries there and then. The tubes were great, although you could end up with a mountain of canisters when the site got busy. You could wind people up by flapping the end of the tube flap which made a noise at the counter at the other end.
I worked there for 3 years in the 60's and early 70's, the store was Binns then and the shop was about 3 times the size it is now and very elegant. Female shop floor staff had to wear black and white. There was a warren of staff staircases and passageways all hidden away from the public areas. Great black pudding rolls for morning break in the canteen too.
The building featured in my life in other ways too, couples would arrange to meet at Binns corner and you could see people watching from a distance so that they didn't arrive first and seem too keen. Then there was the clock with the chimes and the marching soldiers. I don't think that has worked since Frasers took over. It used to be a great tourist attraction, like the Floral clock at the foot of The Mound. Maybe that should be the subject of our next campaign after the success of the reinstatement of the Forsyth's globe .
Then in the '90s, I abseiled down the front of the store for charity. That was fun, with lots of people watching and some enterprising person rattling a bucket for donations. It was a long way down but more pleasant than when I abseiled off the Forth Rail Bridge as there was a wall to bounce off rather than going down on a rope in open space.
I do hope whoever buys the building looks after it again. It's a lovely classical building in such an eye catching position.