William McIlroy was a group of department stores started in Swindon in 1875 and finally closed in 1998.

History

William McIlroy was an Irish draper who came to England and in 1875 opened his first store on Regent Street,

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

. The store was purpose built as a department store with a grand clock and plate glass frontage. The business grew, with William's brother-in-law James Wheeler and son Ewart joining the business, and 22 branches were opened up across England and Wales amongst them Bristol,

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

, Kirkby in Ashfield,

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

, Portsmouth and most famously Oxford Road in Reading. The Oxford Road store was opened in 1903, and was known as the ''Crystal Palace of Reading'' because of its 2000 feet of plate glass windows, and employed over 1000 people. The McIlroy family had strong connections with Reading, with William McIlroy being the mayor as well as donating land to form

McIlroy Park McIlroy Park is a Local Nature Reserve in Tilehurst, a suburb of Reading in Berkshire. It is owned and managed by Reading Borough Council. Along with Blundells Copse and Lousehill Copse it is part of West Reading Woodlands. Geography and si ...

. During the First World War, McIlroys were given an order by the War Office for 45,000 beds. During the 1930s the grand ball room was added to the Swindon store, with the chandeliers and panelling coming from the cruise liner ''Mauretania''. Stars who performed there included Diana Dors and The Beatles (1962). In the 1950s the business started to struggle and changed hands. Stores were closed, including the Reading store in 1955. The Swindon store however continued to operate. The famous clock tower was removed in the 1960s for safety reasons and replaced with a smaller, less ornate clock front. In 1975 a grand sale took place to celebrate 100 years. The Caernarfon store was destroyed by a fire in 1992 and was not rebuilt. The business owned by textile giant Courtaulds was sold to Mackays Stores in the early 1990s. However, on 13 January 1998, the store was closed by its owners Mackays, citing that it could not compete with rivals Debenhams,

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...

and the Designer Outlet Centre. This confused many as in 1997 a report claimed McIlroys to be the UK's eighth most profitable department store. The store was demolished and rebuilt as a branch of H&M and is now home to the fashion chain Flannels.

Locations

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

* Banbury *

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

(formerly Pierce & Lewis) * Bristol (formerly Baker, Baker & Co) * Caernarfon (formerly Brymer & Davies known as the Nelson Emporium; destroyed by fire in 1992) *

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

(formerly a Debenhams store, originally Bainbridge Barker) *

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

(formerly William Rowe) * Havant * High Wycombe *

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

( Tanner & Chart) *

Kirkby-in-Ashfield Kirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town in the Ashfield District of Nottinghamshire, England. With a population of 25,265 (according to the 2001 National Census), it is a part of the wider Mansfield Urban Area. The Head Offices of Ashfield Distr ...

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

* Marlow ( John Morgan & Son) *

* Newbury * Portsmouth * Reading * Southampton *

(formerly Clarks) *

* Waterlooville

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, William McIlroy Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1875 Retail companies disestablished in 1998