Shops become familiar territory for anyone who visits them more than just occasionally. So although most of the shops featured in these fascinating pictures have now disappeared, they were once a regular part of many people’s everyday life.
Scroll through this selection from the Evening News archive and feel something of the atmosphere of Edinburgh in the early 1970s.
1. Aberdeen Angus butcher
A customer being served by Helen Milne at the Aberdeen Angus butcher in Nicolson Street Edinburgh in July 1970. | TSPL Photo: TSPL
2. RW Forsyth
The RW Forsyth department store in Princes Street in October 1970, seen from Princes Street Gardens. The store - said to be the first steel-framed building in Scotland - dates back to 1906 and was the second shop for the company, which started in Glasgow in 1872. | TSPL Photo: Ian Brand
3. Picardy Place shops
A section of Picardy Place at the top of Leith Walk, Edinburgh, in April 1971. The buildings here include wallpaper shop John Line & Sons and D F Wishart. | TSPL Photo: Denis Straughan
4. St Stephen Street
The exterior - and eye-catching steps - of a St Stephen Street shop in Edinburgh in June 1971 | TSPL Photo: Ian Brand