|
Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 1991, when the company went into administration. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became the flagship of the chain of stores operating under the Lewis's name. Several stores in the chain were bought in 1991 by the company Owen Owen and continued to operate under the Lewis's brand name for several years but after the closure of the Manchester store in 2002, only the original Liverpool store continued to trade under the Lewis's name. This store was sold in 2007 to the Vergo Retail Ltd and closed in 2010. ==History== The first Lewis's was opened in 1856 in Liverpool by entrepreneur David Lewis, as a men's and boys' clothing store, mostly manufacturing his own stock. In 1864 Lewis's branched out into women's clothing. In the 1870s the store expanded and added departments, including shoes in 1874 and tobacco in 1879. Also in 1879, Lewis's opened one of the world's first "Christmas grottoes" in Lewis's Bon Marché, Church Street, Liverpool. It was named "Christmas Fairyland".His motto was 'Friends of the People’ and he intended the shopping experience to be inclusive.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Lewis' the shop that time forgot - Daily Telegraph p.17 Mar 2011 )〕 The first Lewis's outside Liverpool opened in nearby Manchester in 1877, and another, by personal suggestion from Joseph Chamberlain on his new Corporation Street in Birmingham in 1885. The Manchester store included a full scale ballroom on the fifth floor, which was also used for exhibitions. Buying offices were also located on the fifth floor until a takeover by Liverpool-based competitor Owen Owen (see below). A fourth store opened in Sheffield in 1884 but proved unprofitable and closed in 1888. Louis Cohen took over the business after Lewis's death, and oversaw a period of consolidation. After Louis Cohen's death, control passed to Harold and Rex Cohen, who took the company public in 1924. New stores were once again opened, in Glasgow (1929), Leeds (1932), Hanley in Stoke-on-Trent (1934) and Leicester (1936). Lewis's were generally among the largest department stores in their respective localities. In 1951 the Lewis's group purchased the famous London department store Selfridges〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.liverpoolwiki.org/Lewis%27s )〕 and in 1965 became part of the Sears Group headed by Charles Clore. In 1966 the group launched Miss Selfridge Fashions, which would later become a store chain in its own right. A branch was opened on Blackpool promenade, next to Blackpool Tower, in 1964 on the site of the Alhambra. The building had a distinctive 1960s design, with a turquoise tiled exterior. After it closed in 1993, building work was undertaken to remove some of the upper floors and the redeveloped site housed a Mecca bingo hall, with part of the ground floor space being subsequently occupied by Woolworths Group, now Poundland, Harry Ramsden's and a variety of smaller retail units. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lewis's」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|