I too remember with fondness my long Laura Ashley dress with flounce. Mine was quite hard wearing and never shrank though I did get some of their later prints which faded terribly. Does anyone remember the bags of tiny remnants they sold for patchwork quilts! I still have some of the bits. That cotton was quite heavy too.
In the late 80s, Laura Ashley expanded and opened lots of shops, one in Canterbury. The dresses were lovely, but the quality was sometimes a bit off. I once bought a dress ( in their sales) and when I got it home realised the velvet nap was in the wrong direction on one piece- completely unwearable! Their quality control could be odd even then. I think the rapid expansion damaged them as a family company. The shop closed and they moved business to a trading estate - entirely the wrong place - and always had very few customers when I visited which hasn’t been for at least 10 years.
Re the markets, we used to get beautiful remnants in Stockport market. It helped my teenage sewing no end.