Until 1973, Croydon was home to quite literally "The Wonder Store Of The South" - a place where people came to not only shop but to be entertained.

Below, we preview a fascinating new book, Kennards of Croydon, which takes a nostalgic look at the store that entertained to sell.

By 1935, Kennards department store occupied a 10-acre site in North End Croydon, (where Debenhams and the Drummond Centre now stand) and employed more than 1,200 staff.

The store not only served Croydonians, but customers from all over the southern counties and was very appropriately termed 'a town within a store'.

Throughout its heyday, Kennards maintained a multitude of interesting and unusual attractions which enticed families to the store for the day.

The Showman, managing director Jimmy Driscoll, ran the store with the flair of a theatrical impresario and was recorded to be the retail trade's greatest showman of the 1930's.

Kennards, claimed to be the first of the larger stores in the environs of London to introduce a Christmas toy fair in the early 1900s.

It had an arcade of shops in 1937, which evolved into a mock-Tudor Elizabethan street in the 1950s.

The store was very active during the Second World War and held battle for fuel exhibitions, a salvage drive and holidays at home programmes.

Kennards was very public spirited and gave further assistance with the grower's vegetable market of 1947, which was advertised as being the first market of its kind in Britain.

Various bizarre sales techniques were used to entice customers to the store. There were tally-ho bargains, mystery tables, streets of adventure, clock days, a real zoo, and Shetland pony rides to name but a few.

Celebrity calls included Margaret Lockwood, Jack Warner, Dirk Bogarde, along with archbishops and dukes. Nearly 200 stars and exhibits are recorded.

Entertainment appeared in the arcade, in the store and on the roof.

Exhibits such as the tattooed wonder, To-Ya and his ice family, an albino family from Canada, and snake charmers from Morocco, entertained customers in the cash & carry department.

l Vivien Lovett will be signing copies of her excellent new book, Kennards Of Croydon, in Debenhams on Monday, between 11.30am and 3.30pm.

Copies are available in Waterstones, WH Smith, the Clocktower bookshop and Books etc.