John Walsh was a family-owned department store in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
On the morning of 19 June 1875, John Walsh opened a small baby linen and ladies' outfitting shop, at number 39 High Street, Sheffield. [1] By 1888 the business had grown and had purchased shop units on both on the north and south sides of the High Street. In 1902 John Walsh retired from the business and the store was incorporated as John Walsh Ltd. with five directors coming from the Walsh family. [1]
The business had grown into a department store offering the sale of silks, dresses, millinery, ribbons, laces, flowers, feathers, toys, stationery, patent medicine and other goods as well as maintaining restaurant and writing rooms, and by 1906 had opened its own cabinet making factory in Pinfold Street. [2]
During the Second World War the store was destroyed by the Sheffield Blitz in 1940 and the business re-opened in former staff accommodation at The Mount and Fargate. [2] To secure the company's furniture business, the factory in Pinfold Street was made into a separate business, John Walsh Manufacturing Co Ltd in 1944, which continued to trade until its closure in 1957.
The business was acquired by Harrods in 1946, [3] who had the funds to rebuild the destroyed store. The new store opened to great acclaim in 1953. [2] The Harrods group was taken over by House of Fraser in 1959 and the store later renamed, firstly as Rackhams Sheffield from 1972 and then House of Fraser Sheffield from 1987. The store was closed in 1998. [3]
The former Walsh's building was then occupied by T. J. Hughes. T. J. Hughes then went into administration in August 2011, and although this store survived, the landlord of the building terminated T. J. Hughes' lease on the 6-floor former department store. [4] The street-level part of the building has since been split three ways [5] into branches of Poundland, British Heart Foundation Electrical and Furnishings store and Sports Direct, with the landlords still to decide what they will do with the remaining upper floors.
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies, including Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods.
Jenners was a former well-established department store in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Princes Street. It was Scotland's oldest independent department store until the retail business was acquired by House of Fraser in 2005. It closed in December 2020 and was vacated by House of Fraser in May 2021. The building will eventually be restored.
House of Fraser is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now 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 after the Second World War a large number of acquisitions transformed the company into a national chain.
Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became the flagship of the chain of stores operating under the Lewis's name. Several stores in the chain were bought in 1991 by the company Owen Owen and continued to operate under the Lewis's brand name for several years, but after the closure of the Manchester store in 2001, only the original Liverpool store continued to trade under the Lewis's name. This store was sold in 2007 to the Vergo Retail Ltd and closed in 2010.
Owen Owen was a Liverpool-based operator of department stores in the United Kingdom and Canada. Beginning with a drapery shop in Liverpool, a chain of department stores was built up, often by taking over rival retailers. The company remained under Owen / Norman family control until the 1980s, and the brand ceased to be used in 2007.
Schofields was a department store that operated on the Headrow in Leeds, England, from 1901 to 1996. For much of the 20th century Schofields was regarded as being the pinnacle of shopping in Leeds city centre.
T. J. Hughes, registered and styled as TJ Hughes, is a British discount department store brand which first emerged in Liverpool in 1912
Army & Navy Stores was a department store group in the United Kingdom, which originated as a co-operative society for military officers and their families during the nineteenth century. The society became a limited liability company in the 1930s and purchased multiple independent department stores during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1973, the Army and Navy Stores group was acquired by House of Fraser. In 2005, the remaining Army & Navy stores were refurbished and re-branded under the House of Fraser nameplate. House of Fraser itself was acquired by Icelandic investment company, Baugur Group, in late 2006, and then by Sports Direct on the 10 August 2018.
Howells was a large department store located on St Mary Street in Cardiff, Wales, established in Cardiff by James Howell in 1865. It was acquired by the House of Fraser group in 1972 and re-branded as House of Fraser in 2010.
Dickins & Jones was a high-quality department store in London, England, which traded between 1835 and 2007, although tracing its origins to 1790. From 1835, the main store was in London's Regent Street. In its final years the store had branches at Epsom, Richmond, and Milton Keynes.
High Street is one of the main thoroughfares and shopping areas in the city centre of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England, located at the approximate grid reference of SK356874. High Street starts at the Commercial Street, Fitzalan Square and Haymarket junction and runs for approximately 400 metres west to conclude near the Sheffield Cathedral where it forms a Y-junction with Fargate and Church Street. High Street has the traditional wide variety of shops, financial institutions and eating places which are associated with any British town centre.
Rackhams was a British department store that opened in Birmingham, England in 1881. The business became part of the Harrods group in 1955, before Harrods was purchased by House of Fraser in 1959. As part of the Harrods grouping in House of Fraser, during the 1970s the Rackhams name was selected to be used as the Midlands and parts of the North of England brand name and several stores were added to its portfolio. In 2000 the Rackhams name was retired and replaced by House of Fraser except for the Skipton and Altrincham stores.
D H Evans was a department store located in Oxford Street, London, which later became part of House of Fraser. The store was rebranded as House of Fraser in 2001.
H. Binns, Son & Co. was a chain of department stores based in Sunderland, later purchased and absorbed by House of Fraser.
Barkers of Kensington was a department store in Kensington High Street, Kensington, London. It began as a small drapery business, John Barker & Company, founded by John Barker and James Whitehead in 1870. Barkers grew rapidly to become one of London's largest and most well-known department stores. The company played a significant role in establishing Kensington High Street as one of London's principal shopping destinations for most of the twentieth century. The business was purchased by House of Fraser in 1957. Barkers closed permanently in 2006. Part of the former flagship building now contains a branch of Whole Foods Market (2019).
E Dingle & Co was a department store chain with its flagship store in Plymouth, England. It is now part of House of Fraser group.
Colson's, later Dingle's and House of Fraser, was a department store located in Exeter, Devon, England. Located on the High Street, the store was founded in 1792, then expanded after damage in the Second World War. It was later purchased and grouped with Plymouth-based Dingles, taking their name, before becoming House of Fraser. The store closed in 2019, along with a number of other House of Fraser stores during financial difficulties at the group. The site was derelict for a number of years, before being renovated during 2022 by IHG Hotels & Resorts as a Hotel Indigo, including a restaurant named "Colson's" in recognition of the history of the building.
William Harvey was a department store located in Guildford.
Stuttaford's was a chain of upscale department stores in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia that operated for 159 years from 1858 through 2017. It was nicknamed the "Harrod's of South Africa". At closing it had seven stores in South Africa, two in Botswana, and one in Namibia. It continues to operate in Namibia only.