I Was There

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I Was There: When Carrefour came to Caerphilly

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When Carrefour came to Caerphilly

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Chris Stuart reunites those who could say I Was There at moments of Welsh social history.

Chris Stuart reunites those who could say I Was There at moments of Welsh social history. This episode recalls the arrival of the UK's first hypermarket in Caerphilly in 1972.

Chris Stuart unites those who could say 'I Was There' at moments of Welsh social history. This episode recalls the arrival in 1972 of the UK's first hypermarket in Caerphilly - Carrefour - and how it changed the way we shop forever, heralding the movement of retail from the High Street to out-of-town developments. 

Chris and his guests recall how the novelty of Wales' first hypermarket drew visitors from far and wide, captured headlines across Britain and used some left-field marketing tactics - including the placing of a giant mechanical gorilla in the car-park. Former goods manager Trevor Davies and till assistant Brenda Jarrett recall what it was like to work there while Ceri John Davies, who was a child in the 1970s, remembers the excitement of family outings to the store and the great distances customers would travel. Former BBC Wales reporter Jen Murray describes reporting on the giant gorilla for the UK news and posing Fay Wray-like on its hand - an image which ended up on the front page of The Times. 

And Caerphilly councillor Lindsay Whittle - whose mother worked in the hypermarket's canteen - explores the impact on traders in the town and beyond and how the High Street was never the same again throughout Britain after Caerphilly Carrefour sparked a shopping revolution.

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