Russell & Bromley

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Russell & Bromley
Company type Private
Founded1873;152 years ago (1873) in Lewes, East Sussex, England
Headquarters
Bromley, London
,
England
Number of locations
  • 43 stores
  • 2 concessions
OwnerBromley family
Website russellandbromley.co.uk

Russell & Bromley is a British footwear and handbag retailer founded in 1873. It operates 43 stores and 2 concessions in the UK, and continues to be run and owned by the Bromley family. [1]

Contents

History

Russell & Bromley began in 1873 when George Bromley, a shoemaker, married his employer Albion Russell's daughter Elizabeth in Lewes, East Sussex, England. Elizabeth's grandfather John Clifford Russell had established a shoemaking business in 1820. [2] The family store in Eastbourne became the first to carry the Russell and Bromley name above the door in 1880. [3] [2]

In 1898 Frederick, George and Elizabeth's son, joined the business and opened a store in Tonbridge, Kent. He then founded an additional store in Sevenoaks, which started an expansion programme of opening additional stores and purchasing smaller independent retailers. In 1905 Frederick moved its operations from Eastbourne to Bromley in Kent. [1] Frederick retired in 1936 and handed the business to his sons Frederick Keith (known as Toby) and Michael. By the outbreak of the Second World War the company had 20 branches. [4] [5] [3]

In 1947 the brothers opened their first store on Bond Street in the West End of London, which saw the change of business focus to high end retailer. In 1968 this was completed by the closure of a quarter of the branches to concentrate on the higher end of the market. [3] The company has since progressed from selling only footwear and now includes ladies handbags and men's belts as part of its range.

In 2022 it was announced that the business would open its first store outside the UK on Grafton Street in Dublin. [6]

References

  1. 1 2 Butler, Sarah (6 January 2015). "Russell & Bromley pays out £11.2m to family owners after sales boom". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Russell & Bromley (Southport) to close in September 2014". OTS News. Retrieved 19 November 2015.[ dead link ]
  3. 1 2 3 Timpson, John (15 October 2015). High Street Heroes: The Story of British Retail in 50 People. Icon Books. ISBN   978-1848319172 . Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Tobey Bromley". The Times . London. 11 September 2003. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "Tobey Bromley" . The Daily Telegraph . 30 August 2003. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  6. ↑ Daly, Linda (27 February 2022). "Russell & Bromley to step into Grafton Street". The Times . Retrieved 12 May 2022.
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