Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a circus, from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction.
Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place in St James's at the southern end, through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, to All Souls Church. From there Langham Place and Portland Place continue the route to Regent's Park.
Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord. In its final years, its headquarters were within the premises of its flagship store in Oxford Street, London. The range of goods sold included middle-to-high-end clothing, beauty, household items, and furniture.
TK Maxx is a subsidiary of the American apparel and home goods company TJX Companies. The stores operate throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, totalling 629 stores in Europe and 56 in Australia in May 2020. In Poland, there are a total of 44 stores. The chain uses a slightly different name from that of the TJ Maxx stores in the United States, to avoid confusion with the British retailer T. J. Hughes.
Cavendish House is Cheltenham's oldest and leading department store, located on The Promenade. Its establishment was of great significance for Cheltenham's future reputation as a leading shopping centre. Known as 'Cavendish House' from its early days, its name was officially adopted with the registration of a limited liability company in 1883. The store became part of the House of Fraser group in 1970.
Lillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus, London, United Kingdom. It is a division of Frasers Group.
Sir Ernest Ridley Debenham, 1st Baronet, was an English businessman. He was responsible for the considerable expansion of the family's retail and wholesale drapery firm between 1892 and 1927.
United Drapery Stores, or UDS, was a British retail group that dominated the British high street from the 1950s to the early 1980s.
Head Entertainment was an entertainment retail chain in the United Kingdom. The company was formed on 18 February 2009 when Simon Douglas, former managing director of Zavvi and business partner Les Whitfield, purchased five stores from Zavvi Entertainment Group which was placed in administration on 24 December 2008. All stores closed in early 2010 after less than a year of trading.
Chinawhite was a nightclub in central London. The original club was located between Piccadilly Circus and Soho, but the club closed in December 2008 due to the building being sold. It re-opened at a new location in London on 20 October 2009 at 4 Winsley Street, in Fitzrovia. In 2012 there was a partial re-brand and name change to "Libertine by Chinawhite". It is part of the wider Chinawhite group which owns and operates a selection of nightclubs, including in Manchester, Birmingham, and Newcastle.
Zavvi is an online retailer of entertainment products, including Blu-rays, collectables, homeware and toys. Originally a physical retailer, the brand has been online only since it was bought from administration by The Hut Group 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.
Marshall & Snelgrove was a department store on the north side of Oxford Street, London, on the corner with Vere Street founded by James Marshall. The company became part of the Debenhams group.
Bourne & Hollingsworth, known also in its latter days as Bournes was a large department store on the corner of Oxford Street and Berners Street. It was named after its founders, Walter William Bourne and Howard E Hollingsworth, brothers in law, who started the store in Westbourne Grove as a drapery store in 1894. The store then moved to the Oxford Street site (pictured) in 1902 due to competition with Whiteleys, and by 1928 the store had been remodelled in the Art Deco style.
The Swan & Edgar was a public house at 43 Linhope Street, Marylebone, owned by Bourne and Hollingsworth Group, notable for its claim to be the smallest pub in London.
Kennards was a small department store chain that was started in 1853, founded on the principle of selling reliable goods at low profit margins. Its main Croydon branch was notable for the full-length windows which ran the length of the store. The shop was bought out by Debenhams, through its subsidiary the Drapery Trust in 1928 but not rebranded until 1973. The site was later obtained for development for the new Drummond Centre in the 1980s and the original store was demolished. The new store was sited on some of the original footprint and anchored the Drummond Centre, which was later expanded and renamed Centrale. This store continued to anchor the centre until Debenhams announced its closure in 2020.
Drapery Trust formed in 1925 by Clarence Hatry, a notorious British financier. He had made his fortune in speculating on oil stocks, and had convinced investors to promote department stores and bring them under the management of a retail conglomerate. The business was acquired by Debenhams in 1927 and was run as a subsidiary until the 1970s.
Bobby & Co. was a provincial department store group based mainly in seaside towns on the south coast of England. The business operated from 1887 until 1972. During the 1920s it became part of the Drapery Trust, which in turn became a subsidiary of Debenhams.
Peter Robinson was a chain of department stores with its flagship store being situated at Oxford Circus, London. Founded in 1833 as a drapery, Robinson bought up nearby shops on Oxford Street to create a department store. The Topshop chain debuted in 1964 as a section in a Peter Robinson branch. The shop building in Oxford Circus was completed in 1912 and is Grade II listed.
Scottish Drapery Corporation was a holding company for a group of Scottish department stores and drapers.
Plummer Roddis was a chain of department stores based in the South of England which was acquired by the Drapery Trust, before being absorbed by its parent company Debenhams.
