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Bentley Bridge
Bentley Bridge Leisure Park is an extensive modern leisure/retail park located in the village of Wednesfield, Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. It has been developed since the late 1990s, to the south of Wednesfield town centre. The park is split into two halves − a leisure area and a shopping area. The site is bounded by the Wyrley and Essington Canal and New Cross Hospital to the North and West, the recently built Wolverhampton Swimming and Fitness Centre to the South and Wednesfield Town to the East, which is easily accessed via a village link, consisting of an open plan amphitheatre style square, landscaped lawns and the newly built Wednesfield library. The first retailer to open was The Co-operative Food (owned by the then West Midlands Co-operative Society) but this was sold to Sainsbury's a few years later who subsequently expanded and refurbished the store. History In 2009, a plan was made to develop land adjacent to the Leisure park, which saw the creation of B ...
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Wednesfield
Wednesfield () is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically within the county of Staffordshire. It is east-north-east of Wolverhampton city centre and about from Birmingham. Local areas include Ashmore Park and Wood End, Wolverhampton, Wood End. There is a formal garden at Wednesfield Park. Toponymy Its name comes from the Old English ''Wōdnesfeld'', meaning "Woden's field", open land belonging to, or holy to, the high god of the Germanic mythology, Germanic Pantheon. History On 5 August 910, the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex defeated an army of Kingdom of Northumbria, Northumbrian Vikings in the Battle of Tettenhall (sometimes called the Battle of Wednesfield or Wōdnesfeld). Wednesfield was formerly known for making all kinds of traps, from mousetraps to mantrap (snare), mantraps and locks. Many of the factories that dominated the area have been cleared to make wa ...
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Card Factory
Card Factory plc is a retailer of greeting cards and gifts in the United Kingdom founded in Wakefield by Dean Hoyle and his wife Janet. The first store opened in 1997, and by 2020 the company had over 1,000 stores. The company also operates two retail websites and has mobile apps for both iPhone and Android. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History Origins to 2009 Dean Hoyle left school with no qualifications, having a self confessed greater interest in association football, football. With his wife Janet, from 1993 they began buying cards wholesale, and selling them from the back of their van at car boot sales and public open air events. In 1997, they opened their first shop under within the holding company Sportswift Ltd, purposefully choosing secondary retail locations which were cheaper. After opening a few stores, whilst Janet founded and headed up the internal design and print function, Dean concentrated on expanding the business, with a nominal target of 50 ...
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Retail Parks In The United Kingdom
Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a Profit (accounting), profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers. Retail markets and shops have a long history, dating back to antiquity. Some of the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers. Over the centuries, retail shops were transformed from little more than "rude booths" to the sophisticated shopping malls of the modern era. In the digital age, an increasing number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple channels, including both bricks and mortar store, bricks and mortar and Online shopping, online retailing. Digital technologies are also affecting the way that co ...
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Shopping Centres In The West Midlands (county)
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scholars which identifies one group of shoppers as recreational shoppers, that is, those who enjoy shopping and view it as a leisure activity.Jones, C. and Spang, R., "Sans Culottes, Sans Café, Sans Tabac: Shifting Realms of Luxury and Necessity in Eighteenth-Century France," Chapter 2 in ''Consumers and Luxury: Consumer Culture in Europe, 1650-1850'' Berg, M. and Clifford, H., Manchester University Press, 1999; Berg, M., "New Commodities, Luxuries and Their Consumers in Nineteenth-Century England," Chapter 3 in ''Consumers and Luxury: Consumer Culture in Europe, 1650-1850'' Berg, M. and Clifford, H., Manchester University Press, 1999 Online shopping has become a major disruptor in the retail industry as consumers can now search for product ...
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Wagamama
Wagamama Limited (stylised as ''wagamama)'' is a British restaurant chain. The brand is inspired by fast-paced, Japanese ramen bars and offers a celebration of Asian food. History Wagamama Limited was incorporated on 29 April 1991 as China Diner Limited, and their first restaurant was opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London, founded by Alan Yau, who subsequently created the Chinese cuisine, Chinese restaurants Hakkasan and Yauatcha, and Thai cuisine, Thai restaurant Busaba Eathai. In June 2005, the restaurant's owner Graphite Capital sold the majority stake of 77.5% to Lion Capital LLP for £103million. In April 2011, the chain was sold to Duke Street Capital, for an estimated sum of £215million. The chain was acquired for £559m by The Restaurant Group, owner of Frankie & Benny's & Chiquito (restaurant), Chiquito in October 2018. In October 2023 The Restaurant Group was taken over by Apollo Global Management in a deal worth over £700m. In September 2024, The Restaurant Group ...
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Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle's Pike Place Market initially as a coffee bean wholesaler. Starbucks was converted into a coffee shop serving espresso-based drinks under the ownership of Howard Schultz, who was chief executive officer from 1986 to 2000 and led the aggressive expansion of the franchise across the West Coast of the United States. the company had 35,711 stores in 80 countries, 15,873 of which were located in the United States. Of Starbucks' U.S.-based stores, over 8,900 are company-operated, while the remainder are licensed. It is the List of coffeehouse chains, world's largest coffeehouse chain. The company is ranked 120th on the Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 and 303rd on the Forbes Global 2000, ''Forbes'' Global 2000, as of 2022. Th ...
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McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald founded McDonald's in San Bernardino, California, in 1940 as a hamburger stand, and soon Franchising, franchised the company. The logo, the Golden Arches, was introduced in 1953. In 1955, the businessman Ray Kroc joined McDonald's as a franchise agent and bought the company in 1961. In the years since, it has expanded internationally. Today, McDonald's has over 50,000 restaurant locations worldwide, with around a quarter in the US. Other than food sales, McDonald's generates income through its ownership of 70% of restaurant buildings and 45% of the underlying land (which it leases to its franchisees). In 2018, McDonald's was the world's second-largest private employer with 1 ...
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Nandos
Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled, peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo depicts the Rooster of Barcelos, one of Portugal's most common symbols. The company was wholly owned by Dick Enthoven until his death in 2022, and is now owned by his family. History The restaurant was founded in 1987 in Rosettenville, Johannesburg by Portuguese-born Fernando Duarte and South African-born Robert Brozin. Upon visiting a Portuguese Mozambican takeaway named Chickenland and trying the chicken with peri peri, they bought the restaurant for about 80,000 rand (equivalent to about £25,000 at the time). They renamed the restaurant Nando's after Fernando's firstborn son. By 1989, the restaurant had three outlets in Johannesburg and one in Portugal. Capricorn Ventures International acquired the chain in 1992. In that year, th ...
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Subway (restaurant)
Subway IP LLC, trading as Subway, is an American multinational fast food restaurant franchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs) and wraps. It was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck in 1965 as Pete's Super Submarine Sandwiches in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After several name changes, it was renamed Subway in 1972, and a franchise operation began in 1974 with a second restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut. It was the fastest-growing franchise in the world in 2015 and, as of September 2023, has over 37,000 locations in more than 102 countries and territories. More than half its locations (21,796 or 61.1%) are in the United States. It is the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator in the world. Its international headquarters are in Shelton, Connecticut. History Foundation and early years In 1965, Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from his friend Peter Buck to start "Pete's Drive-In: Super Submarine Sandwiches" at 385 ...
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Bella Italia
The Big Table Group Limited, trading as Bella Italia (formerly known as Bella Pasta), is a chain of over 90 restaurants offering meals inspired by Italian cuisine in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The chain is part of The Big Table, which also owns Café Rouge, Frankie & Benny's and Las Iguanas. History Bella Italia started life as two small restaurant chains - Pastificio and Pizzaland both of which were part of the Grand Metropolitan group. In 1990, Michael Guthrie (former Chairman of Mecca Leisure Group) formed BrightReasons and bought the Pizzaland and Pastificio chains from Grand Metropolitan for £20m in February 1991, rebranding Pastificio to Bella Pasta in the process. In February 1993, BrightReasons purchased 43 Pizza Piazza and Prima Pasta restaurants from Rank Organisation for £20.25m, bringing their total number of restaurants to 165. In May 1994, BrightReasons started preparing for a stock market flotation, and the group was expected to be valued at betwe ...
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JD Sports
JD Sports Fashion plc, commonly known as JD Sports, JD or JD Group is a British multinational sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The Pentland Group owns 55% of the company. History The company was established by John Wardle and David Makin (hence the name ''JD''), trading from a single shop in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1981. The company opened a store in the Arndale Centre in Manchester in 1983. Pentland Group bought Wardle's and Makin's shares for £44.6M in May 2005, so acquiring 45% of the business. Acquisitions Early acquisitions of stores included 209 stores with the acquisition of First Sport from Blacks Leisure Group in December 2001 and 70 stores from the administrators of Allsports in October 2005. Subsequent acquisitions of businesses included: *Bank Stores, which sold fashion clothing, for around £19M in December 2007 *Champion Sports for ...
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TK Maxx
TK Maxx is a discount clothing and homewares retailer, founded in 1994. It is currently based in Watford, England. It is owned by American retailer TJ Maxx, who could not trade under the initials "TJ" in the United Kingdom due to the British discount chain T. J. Hughes. TK Maxx has since expanded across Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Poland and Australia, and also trades as Homesense. History In 1976, TJ Maxx was founded in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States, by Bernard Cammarata. The first international store opened in Bristol, UK, in 1994. The company modified the name to TK Maxx to avoid confusion with the unrelated British retail chain T. J. Hughes. Opening of stores in the Netherlands between 1999 and 2001 was not as successful as the company wished. The first store in Germany opened on October 4, 2007, in Lübeck. In 2007, TK Maxx began winding down new store openings in the United Kingdom. Focus was given to revamping or relocating older inner c ...
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