Celebrating Britain’s indie department stores: Atkinsons, Banburys and Barkers

Graham Soult

Retail consultant, writer, blogger; helping retailers via CannyInsights.com and CannySites.com. Say hello on Twitter at @soult!

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7 Responses

  1. Jos van der sar says:

    There is also Elphicks/Knights/Tudor Williams in Surrey and Elys/Morleys in South London too!

  2. BS says:

    Other than my dearly departed and beloved Lewis’s
    In the North West there is –

    Hankcock & Wood – Warrington – A Family Run Department Store which sells Womens Wear, lingerie, Childrens Wear, Gifts, sometimes Toys, Hoisery, Milnery, Shoes, Young Fashions, Hairdressers, Bridal and Has a good Cafe on the first floor.

    Warrington also has Waysiders A small store that sells china, glass, haberdashery and Kitchen wear. Although it’s upper floor has been closed for some time now.

    There is Tyrers in St Helens and Bratts in Northwich.

    Hartes in Blackpool – Trying to be a department store for many years, rather than a Christmas Shop. I don’t know how far they have got on that one.

    Hitchens in Morecambe – Similar to Above.

    JR Taylor Department Store in St Annes-on-Sea – A nice compact indie department store on 4 floors in St Annes Town Centre – has all the departments you would expect to find from any big store. Very Modern – Even had a sign that said “Nail Bar – For Hands that don’t do dishes…” haha.

    Next Door in Lytham there is JW Stringer – Again similar to JR Taylor but they have a full range Home Store near Booths.

    And I think thats it – We run thin on the ground for department stores these days – It’s a shame

  3. Rational Plan says:

    Daniels of Windsor, is a rare survivor. It is currently going through a major rebuild. The old high street side was demolished recently and new glass and steel monster is rising in it’s place.

    It has good homewares. The fashion is a bit musty and is all concessions. It does have a great tot section upstairs.

  4. WillPS says:

    Jarrolds of Norwich is surely worth a mention – there is a truly wonderful department store.

  5. TAS says:

    Bakers and Larners of Holt (Norfolk): http://www.bakersandlarners.co.uk/. The foodhall alone is splendid – checking the website, I see that they’ve added a branch of Intersport since I last visited. Living in a much larger town which hasn’t had a decent-sized independent sports retailer for over a decade (and which lost its town centre JJB Sports last year) I am now extremely envious. Their premises dominate Holt’s Market Place, and they have a Home Furnishing Centre further down the road. Can’t imagine Holt without them. Interestingly, they also run a chain of builders’ merchants and the local Budgens.

    Would have liked to suggest Williams & Griffin in Colchester, but since Fenwick have taken over it isn’t quite what it used to be (I can’t manage to pinpoint what’s missing – perhaps it’s just the replacement of the purple and gold colour scheme with much blander green and white).

  1. May 21, 2012

    […] dying breed that you might think – and I’ve featured plenty of successful examples in this blog before – there’s no doubt that running an indie department store isn’t for the […]

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