Our Price - Expansion

Expansion

In the first half of the 1980s, Our Price established itself as the UK's second largest retailer of records and tapes (with Woolworths the largest). Brand recognition was driven by pun-rich radio advertising built around the "Get Down To Our Price" slogan, which later transferred to TV featuring an animated carrier bag called, Billy. A sister chain, Our Price Video, was established to capitalise on the success of the new VHS tape format, and some towns eventually had two or three Our Price-branded stores. Our Price Video was later rebranded under the Playhouse fascia, but failed to establish a significant market share in VHS sales, and it was wound up by owners, WH Smith, in the late 1990s (the otherwise unconnected Silver Screen retail chain was founded on the same "specialist movies" principle in the early 2000s; it too foundered, and has now closed down). In 1987 the rock star Shakin' Stevens chose a branch of Our Price to film the opening scene of his video for, What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?

The expansion of Thorn-EMI-owned HMV in the late 1980s established a chain of newer, larger stores, which threatened and eventually overtook Our Price in popularity.