Freezer joints

[Trickyvee]

Before the birth of Iceland, there was the freezer joint. It was basically a local shop full of nothing but chest freezers of stuff. We had one at our shops down the road. What I remember is the noise and the freezery smell when you walked in.

For some reason we often made trips to another freezer joint tucked away in the middle of another estate somewhere to stock up on canelloni. I assume this was the only place my parents could get canelloni and it sounded very exotic to me at the time.

[FLYING SAUCER]

Re: Freezer joints

Before Iceland was Bejam. Also I remember a lot of independant ones pooping up too. In a nearby town , we had one called The Ice Box (I was enthrawled!) They sold frozen ready to bake apple strudel and like you say, exotic sounding things we had not heard of in the mid 1970s.

I seem to remember that in about 1973, people went mad on buying chest freezers (quite an expensive item back then) and possibly it was the harsh economic climate of the early to mid seventies folk would buy a whole lamb and cut it up and share it out, a bit like a frozen food co operative?

[Richard1978]

Re: Freezer joints

My mum used to got to a freezer centre called Nessie, which (I presume) specialised in Scottish frozen produce. I think customers needed to members to shop there, but if you bought in bulk it was worth it.

I rembmer one of my Aunts in Northamptonshire shopping a lot at Bejam, along with Budgen never seemed to have branches in the North West.

[Austin Maxi]

Re: Freezer joints

In Kent, we had Brake Brothers frozen food stores. I recall going into the one in Tonbridge in the late '70s, and the freezers around the walls had the name of the contents (e.g. 'Ice Cream' or 'Vegetables') in a large very-'70s 3D blocky serif typeface mounted on the wall above them.

[Trickyvee]

Re: Freezer joints

Never realised there were chains like Bejam around. Both of the ones we went to were independant. I'm guessing our local one was called 'the freezer joint' and I thought this was the generic name for all of them.

[stuckinthe80's]

Re: Freezer joints

Don't think we had Bejam in the North East Tricky. We had an Iceland near us in the early 80's. I think Iceland bought Bejam out though.

[Richard1978]

Re: Freezer joints

There was briefly a shop called Freezepoint near where I lived, which wasn't open for long before becoming an Iceland, & still is 20 years on.

[Austin Maxi]

Re: Freezer joints

We had Bejam in Kent, but I don't remember going into them that often. I remember the 'Bejam' logo was blocky yellow lettering on a dark blue background.

[Trickyvee]

Re: Freezer joints

Are Maxifreeze shops still around? I remember those from the 90s and possibly into the 00s. They were similar to Iceland. Another one was Heron foods. I think they might still be going. Used to have weird stuff like chickens with three legs.

[Jingbang]

Re: Freezer joints

Heron is still about i went in there yesterday.

[sf1378]

Re: Freezer joints

I remember Bejam, the one in Reading was pretty scanky in terms of decor but the food they sold was far better quality than when Iceland bought them out....I can still remember their breaded chicken wings and chicken nuggets, we used to eat them with Farrows peas and chips and when the peas juice mixed onto the breadcrumb it tasted lovelier....