IT'S always easy to spot someone who has lived in Southampton for a good few years, as they still talk about Edwin Jones, Mayes, Bourne and Hollingsworth or even Tyrrell and Green.

Those are all old names of department stores that once served the people of Southampton but now have either changed names or been demolished.

These shops were such an important part of everyday life in the city that their names became ingrained in the language of many locals, who absent-mindedly still use them when talking about the city centre or reminiscing about the days when cash registers rang in pounds, shillings and pence.

Mayes and Bourne and Hollingsworth, which both stood near the Bargate, have now disappeared while the long-established Southampton name of Tyrrell and Green, which many Sotonians will carry on using out of habit for some time yet, has been switched to John Lewis.

Edwin Jones, now known as Debenhams, has a more lasting memorial, however - in the name of a small road in Southampton.

Edwin Jones Green is just off Northlands Road and commemorates a 19th century merchant venturer from Romsey who opened a single-fronted shop in East Street and went on to build up a retail business that was one of the biggest in the south.

The business flourished and soon the East Street premises expanded. In 1880, Edwin Jones acquired a new property, which came to be known as Queen's Buildings.

Edwin became a civic leader and was twice mayor of Southampton (in 1873 and 1875). He gained a reputation for generosity and once organised and paid for a great fete for 12,000 pupils from local schools and 6,000 other guests.

In 1896, Edwin Jones died but the store grew more and more successful. At one time, the directors acquired 200 acres of land surrounding the Harefield home of the late founder, for the recreation of staff and established a hostel for women who worked at the store.

By the late 1920s control of Edwin Jones had passed to Debenhams, although it retained its name for decades to come.

But on a fateful Sunday night in November 1940, the shop quite literally came tumbling down. What had taken decades of hard work to build, German bombers destroyed in just two hours as Southampton endured the blitz.

In March 1959, the rebuilt store opened, billed as "the shop where you can spend the whole day", complete with two restaurants, a hairdressing saloon and the "very latest in self-selection designed to speed and simplify your shopping".