Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street.
Lakeside Shopping Centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It was constructed on the site of a former chalk quarry. The first tenants moved into the complex in 1988 and it was completed in 1990, being opened on 25 October of that year by Princess Alexandra of Kent, Marcus Bradford and Angus Ogilvy. New spaces in the red car park were added as recently as October 2019.
Poundstretcher Limited is a British variety store chain, founded in 1981 by Paul Appell and Stephen Fearnley. The retailer is currently based in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, and since April 2024 has been a subsidiary of the Fortress Investment Group.
Bluewater Shopping Centre is an out-of-town shopping centre in Stone, Kent, England, just outside the M25 motorway ring, 17.8 miles (28.6 km) east south east of London's centre. Opened on 16 March 1999 in a former chalk quarry after ten years of building works, the site occupies 240 acres (97 ha) and has a sales floor area of 154,000 m2 (1,600,000 ft2) over three levels, making it the fifth-largest shopping centre in the UK. Elsewhere in Europe only Istanbul's Cevahir Mall and Vienna's (Vösendorf) Shopping City Süd are bigger. The floor plan is a triangular shape with 210 stores, including 3 anchors, 50 cafés and restaurants, and a 17-screen cinema. The centre employs 7,000 people and serves over 27 million visitors a year. A main rival is the Lakeside Shopping Centre and its two retail parks in West Thurrock, Essex, just across the River Thames, 8 miles (13 km) away by road or 3.2 miles (5.1 km) as the crow flies.
Woolworths was a British high-street retail chain. At its height, it operated as Woolworths Group PLC, which included other companies such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment UK, and book and resource distributor Bertram Books.
Somerfield was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The business started life in the 19th century as grocers J. H. Mills, and after a series of buyouts and mergers, the company became known as Gateway. A major rebranding to the created Somerfield brand started in 1990, and in 1998 the company purchased the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth-largest food retailer. The Somerfield name was replaced by the Co-operative brand in a rolling programme of store conversions ending in summer 2011.
HMV is a British music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by JD Sports and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson.
Focus was a British do-it-yourself and home improvement retailer, founded in 1987.
HHGL Limited, trading as Homebase, is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, until it was sold to the Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers in January 2016.
House of Fraser and Frasers are a British department store chain with 26 locations across the United Kingdom and 2 in Ireland, part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it was known as Fraser & Sons. The company grew steadily during the early 20th century and in 1936 began a period of growth through acquisition which would continue for over forty years. House of Fraser Ltd was incorporated in 1941 and first listed on the London Stock Exchange six years later.
Our Price was a British high Street chain of record stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 1971 until 2004. Ourprice.com reopened online on 30 April 2024 with new owners.
Wilko.com Limited is a retail chain owned by Norton Group Holdings since 2023, prior to which it was owned by Wilko Limited, founded in the United Kingdom in 1930.
Shoprite Limited was a community food store chain in the Isle of Man. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Isle of Man Enterprises plc, until Tesco announced its purchase of the business on 9 October 2023.
Dobbies Garden Centres Limited is a British chain of garden centres based in Lasswade, Scotland. It is the biggest garden centre operator in the United Kingdom, operating over 77 stores, some of which it acquired from the previous biggest garden centre chain, Wyevale.
Zavvi is an online retailer of entertainment products, including Blu-ray discs, collectables, homeware and toys. Originally a physical retailer, the brand has been online only since it was bought from administration by The Hut Group (THG) in 2009. In July 2023 THG confirmed the sale of its OnDemand division, including Zavvi, to its existing leadership team, with financial backing from investment firm Gordon Brothers.
The Entertainer (Amersham) Limited is a British toy retailer, founded in 1981 by Catherine and Gary Grant. It is based in Amersham, the town of its first location.
John Browett is a British businessman and former chief executive of Dunelm Group and Monsoon Accessorize. He was the senior vice-president of retail at Apple Inc. from April 2012 to October 2012.
Virgin Megastores was a retail chain that operated in the United Kingdom from 1971 to 2007. The company was established by Richard Branson, originally as a small record shop, and became a national chain. In 2007, the company was sold to management, and was rebranded as Zavvi. Zavvi entered administration in 2008 and subsequently closed.
Head Records Limited is a British entertainment retailer based in Leamington Spa. It was founded in October 2007 by Leslie and Jayne Whitfield, and became a chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
