In its heyday Bradford was one of the major shopping centres of the North boasting high-class department stores which became a playground for the city's wealthiest residents.

Brown Muff, in Market Street, and Busby's, on Manningham Lane, were to Bradford what Harrods is to London pulling in discerning customers from far and wide.

But in the 1970s the dream began to fade as the city's retailing grandeur was gradually chipped away.

Brown Muff, the household name which evokes fond memories for Bradford shoppers, closed in 1977 and changed to Rackhams in a takeover by the House of Fraser Group.

But, while shoppers continued to pass through its doors, the store gradually became a shadow of its former self and eventually closed in 1995.

Since then the building has taken on different guises and has now taken on a radically different lifestyle housing a variety of shops under one roof, including Boots and a Virgin Megastore.

Another city department store - Busbys - also had a facelift after it was taken over by retail giant Debenhams, but the store was destroyed by fire in the 1970s leaving a gaping void in Bradford's top class retail industry.

Now - 30 years on - the death knell has sounded for Bryars, the well-known cloth warehouse which has served Bradford families with its range of soft furnishings for more than 70 years.

It was the end of an era when the store, which was situated in the city's Wool Exchange, announced it was closing after it recently went into liquidation.

Apart from spelling the end of another long-established retailer, and there are very few left, it could also create another empty shop unit within the city centre which doesn't create a positive image for Bradford.

And this week, another chapter in the city's retail history ended when C & A closed its last UK store in Broadway on Thursday.

It proved a poignant occasion for the hundreds of shoppers who queued to get in to see the final chapter in the history of the once-booming high street fashion store come to a close.

While some clamoured for bargains, others tearfully wandered round empty racks and shelves, once laden with the latest high street fashions, reminiscing over the good old days before the doors closed for the final time at 11.30am.

Unlike many shops which close and remain empty, this store will re-open at the end of the month as a Next clearance shop selling last season's stock at discount prices.

It is a big name store that could offer some hope that others will quickly follow.

But some shoppers believe Bradford still has some way to go...

Ellen Barry, who was born in Bradford, said she is disgusted with the way the city looks.

"If I could I would go to Leeds every day because I can walk round Bradford in 20 minutes and can't get anything," said Mrs Barry.

"There are more empty shops here than anywhere and they have pulled all those good buildings down to build others and half of them are empty.

"They have spoilt a good place."

Another Bradford resident, Peter Wardman, said he felt Bradford was run-down and mostly filled with bargain and cheap clothing shops.

He said he felt the city needed a big department store, like Busby's, to attract trade back in and a more central open-air market.

Teenager Sarah Ogden, also of Bradford, said she felt the city needed more clothing shops.

Sales manager Robin Henderson, who is based in York but regularly visits the city on business, said his first impressions were that it was dowdy and dull.

"It doesn't lend itself to coming in to shop," said Robin, who believes the city needs more designer outlets.

But hopefully the tide could soon be turning with a host of exciting new developments geared to encourage people back to Bradford.

Broadway is to be transformed into an under-cover shopping centre with car parking and leisure facilities in a £200m scheme which is expected to start in 2003 and will take three years to complete.

There are also major plans to create the city's first international shopping complex in the Rawson Quarter on the former Rawson Market site, and Sunwin House is planning an extensive retail and leisure development on land at the back of their store.

In Vicar Lane, work is already underway on the Leisure Exchange, which will be home to a multiplex cinema as well as a fitness centre, hotel, bars and restaurants.

With these big changes ahead, City Centre manager Elaine Frances, is confident Bradford will be booming again.

"Hopefully that will change Bradford's fortunes, as far as retail goes because it is bringing in another department store which is badly needed."

She said she also hoped it would attract high street fashion stores, as well as speciality fashion and independent retailers to come into the city.

Ms Frances said at the moment people with money don't tend to come into Bradford because there aren't the range of shops on offer. She said women's fashions were particularly lacking in the city.

"It is a vicious circle because we don't have the good quality retail, people with money to spend don't come here and because they don't shop here we are attracting cheap shops and not the quality shops," said Ms Frances.

"The trick is to make a vicious circle into a virtuous circle and it is quite difficult to do but it is the bigger development that will do it but some are two and three years down the line."

Bradford businessman Jeff Frankel, managing director of Sydney's Jewellers who is also the chairman of the Bradford Retail Action Group, is a man with the vision that Bradford can be greatly improved.

But Mr Frankel, a member of the shadow board of the new City Centre company which is hoping to turn the city's fortunes round, said local people have to support the city.

"If people want Bradford to survive they have got to shop here, they have got to vote with their feet," he said.

He said while the city would never be the same as Leeds, it had the potential to be successful as a shopping centre.

"To pretend it will be the same as Leeds is pie in the sky, but nevertheless we can still be important," said Mr Frankel.