William Lefevre

Last updated

William Lefevre was a department store located in Canterbury, which later became part of Debenhams.

History

William Lefevre was born in Canterbury in 1847 and whose father was a grocer. After serving his apprenticeship with a draper in the Marylebone area of London, William returned to Canterbury in 1875 to open his own drapery business. [1]

William's family followed suit by opening drapery and wool business' in other parts of the city. By 1899 the business had stores in Sun Street, Mercury Street and Guildhall Street. [1]

William died in 1911 and his son Charles took over the running of the business. In the 1920s the business took on a massive project by combining their Guildhall store with the Philosophical and Literary Institution and Museum, the Theatre Royal & the Guildhall Tavern. The new store with amended frontage was opened in 1926 and designed by local architects Jenning & Gray, however parts of the original buildings can still be seen, including the Egyptian Windows from the original Institute building. [1]

It was during this time that the business was sold to Debenhams who continued to operate the business under the William Lefevre name until 1973 when the business was re-branded as part of the rationalisation programme.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debenhams</span> Defunct British retailer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allders</span> British department store

Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heelas of Reading</span>

Heelas is a major department store in Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It was known as Heelas until 2001 and that name is still in common usage. The store fronts on to Reading's main pedestrianised shopping street, Broad Street, and backs onto Minster Street and The Oracle shopping centre. The store has belonged to the John Lewis Partnership since 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afflecks</span> Indoor market in Manchester, England

Afflecks is an indoor market in Manchester, England, in the city's Northern Quarter on the junction of Church Street/Tib Street and Dale Street with Oldham Street. Dozens of independent stalls, small shops and boutiques operate in the one building. The building was once home to Affleck & Brown, one of the city's principal department stores. A bar on the original site opened in 2015, under the Affleck & Brown name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavendish House</span>

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.

Bonds of Norwich was a department store based in All Saints Green, Norwich, England. John Lewis Partnership purchased the business in 1982. The store was renamed John Lewis in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendals</span> Former department store in Manchester

Kendals is the previous name of a department store in Manchester, England. Since 2005, the store now operates as House of Fraser. The store had previously been known during its operation as Kendal Milne, Kendal, Milne & Co, Kendal, Milne & Faulkner, Harrods or Watts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swan & Edgar</span> Former department store in London

Swan & Edgar Ltd was a department store, located at Piccadilly Circus on the western side between Piccadilly and Regent Street established in the early 19th century and closed in 1982.

United Drapery Stores, or UDS, was a British retail group that dominated the British high street from the 1950s to the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennards</span> Former British department store chain

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 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.

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.

Curl Brothers were a department store based in Norwich. The store later became part of the Debenhams chain.

E Dingle & Co was a department store chain with its flagship store in Plymouth, England. It is now part of House of Fraser group.

Benzie & Miller was a small department store chain based in Scotland and became part of House of Fraser in 1958.

Matthias Robinson was a small chain of department stores in the north of England which were purchased by Debenhams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Griffin & Spalding</span> Former department store in Nottingham

Griffin & Spalding was a department store located in Nottingham. It later became part of the Debenhams chain.

Hanningtons was a department store located in Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Prominently situated in a central position in Brighton, it had an unbroken history of trading for nearly 200 years until its closure in 2001. It was the city's oldest, largest and most diverse department store: its 70 departments offered clothes and household goods of all types, and services ranging from funeral arrangement to carpet-cleaning. "Famous" and "prestigious", it was known locally as the "Harrods of Brighton". It remained in family ownership until the 1960s, and subsequent owners ran the business according to the principles of the Hannington family.

Woolland Brothers was a department store located in Knightsbridge, London, next door to Harvey Nichols. It was closed in 1967.

The Norwich Blitz refers to the heavy bombing of Norwich and surrounding area by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "William Lefevre - Canterbury Historical & Archaeological Society" . Retrieved 12 January 2015.