Back to the future with London’s Lost Department Stores

Our higher streets are even now littered with the stays of former division retailers together with the shells of when dazzling shops of Debenhams, House of Fraser and BHS that have been lately joined by various John Lewis & Associates qualities.

Amid the carnage nowadays it is extraordinary to imagine that London (and its suburbs) by itself supported about 100 division retailers in the 1900s. But it is genuine and evidence of this astounding time period is chronicled in the a short while ago released reserve ‘London’s Dropped Department Stores’ from Secure Haven Guides.

It offers an uncomplicated-looking through snapshot of an array of these now unfortunately departed grand suppliers including lots of familiar names to me: Dickens & Jones, Waring & Gillow, Barkers, Huge Biba, Whiteleys and Allders. There’s also lots of that experienced extensive ceased trading in advance of I moved down to the capital together with Stagg & Mantle, Pratts, Gorringes and the terrifically named Bodgers.

The anecdote-pushed accounts of these different outlets pretty a lot gives a social background of purchasing from the Victorian interval onwards. It is improved by chapters on related themes these kinds of as groundbreaking ladies in the sector and department merchants for the duration of war.

As effectively as staying prepared in an accessible type by creator Tessa Boase the e book is even further introduced to existence by the great selection of pictures that incorporate greatly to the publication. The image-abundant structure with person division keep profiles makes certain this is a reserve that can be simply dipped into anytime the reader fancies a bit of nostalgia and wishes to be be transported to a period of time when retail really was offering an unbelievable amount of money of theatre to buyers.

We now reside in a time period when merchants are focusing at any time extra on injecting greater activities into their actual physical stores and this e book will not only choose them back in time but it could possibly also level them in the course in which they require to go with their businesses in the foreseeable future.

London’s Dropped Section Stores is out there from Protected Haven Textbooks priced £16.99.

Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider