 | |
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Genre | Department store |
| Founded | 1836 |
| Headquarters | 98–116 Deansgate, Manchester, England |
| Products | Quality and luxury goods |
| Owner | Mike Ashley |
Kendals is the previous name of a department store in Manchester, England. Since 2005, the store now operates as House of Fraser. [1] The store had previously been known during its operation as Kendal Milne, Kendal, Milne & Co, Kendal, Milne & Faulkner, Harrods or Watts.
The store was opened as Watts' in 1796, and became Kendal, Milne & Faulkner when three employees bought out the business and re-opened it in 1836. [2] The founder John Watts had begun a drapery business in Deansgate in 1796 which became prosperous and was later known as "The Bazaar" and expanded onto a site on the other side of Deansgate. [3] The store building of 1836 (on the east side) was reconstructed after the street widening of 1873 by the architect E. J. Thompson. The site of the present store was occupied by the cabinet showrooms, workshops and packing departments. [4]
It was purchased by Harrods in 1919, and was called Harrods for a period in the 1920s, but the name swiftly reverted to Kendal Milne following protests from customers and staff. [2] Store receipts and advertising continued to call the store 'Kendal Milne and Company (Harrods Limited)' until the Harrod's acquisition by House of Fraser in 1959. As late as the early 1980's Kendal's livery and carrier bags were the same olive green and gold as Harrod's. For many years the store was (alongside Marshall & Snelgrove - in St. Anne's Square and Finnigan's - further down Deansgate) the epitome of luxury department store shopping in Manchester.
The Harrods group, along with Kendals, was taken over by House of Fraser in 1959. [2] The store continued trading as Kendals until 2005, [2] when the store was renamed House of Fraser Manchester. Despite the re-branding of Kendals, the 'Kendal, Milne and Co' name is still clearly visible on marble fascias above the store's entrances.
The store is located in a purpose-built Art Deco building on Deansgate, with 280,000 sq ft (26,000 m2) of retail space, making it Manchester's largest department store (the previous largest being Debenhams on Market Street until its closure in 2021) at 420,000 sq ft (39,000 m2). The present store was designed by Harrods' in-house architect, Louis David Blanc, with input from a local architect J. S. Beaumont, in 1938 and completed in 1939. [5] It is a Grade II listed building. [6] It operated for many years alongside the Victorian store building on the opposite side of Deansgate (opened in 1873). The two buildings were linked by a subterranean passage, 'Kendal's Arcade' but this was closed off when the buildings on the East side of Deansgate were sold. A large multi-storey car park stands to the west of the store.
In October 2018, it was announced that the House of Fraser store would close in late January 2019 due to being unable to sort out a crucial restructuring deal. [7] [8] However in November 2018 it was announced that the store had been saved from closure. [9]
In October 2020, plans emerged [10] which suggest the store will close once and for all, with the store refurbished, extended and repurposed as offices. Manchester City Council approved the plans in June 2021. [11] The multi-storey car park to the west would be demolished and replaced by further office space and public realm created between the two buildings. [12]
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in London, in Paris and in New York City (Stewart's).
Harrods is a British luxury department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is owned by Harrods Ltd, a company 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. Recognised as one of the world's leading department stores, it is visited by 15 million people per year.
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Colsons, later Dingles 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 acquired by House of Fraser 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 the Hotel Indigo Exeter, including a restaurant named "Colson's" in recognition of the history of the building.
The Blade is a 154 m (505 ft) tall, 51-storey residential skyscraper in Manchester, England. The building is part of the second phase of the Crown Street development area at the southern end of Deansgate in the city centre, behind the Deansgate Square skyscraper cluster. It was designed by SimpsonHaugh architects and as of 2023 is the fourth-tallest building in Greater Manchester.
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