Bainbridge's on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Bainbridge's (company name Bainbridge & Co) was a major
The store dates back to 1838, when Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge went into partnership with William Alder Dunn and opened a
accessed 29 April 2011
/ref> This ledger survives and is now kept in the archives of the John Lewis Partnership. Emerson became the sole proprietor in 1855. By the 1870s there were more than forty retail departments. Emerson Bainbridge died in 1892 and his sons took over the business. In that same year, Bainbridge's employed a staff of 600 in Newcastle, and the store had 11,705 square yards of floor space. In 1897 the business became a private limited company. During the Depression, which hit the Newcastle area badly, the store introduced agents who operated in less prosperous areas, collecting payments in weekly instalments. This meant that people on low incomes could continue to buy from the shop and it kept the Bainbridge name and reputation known in areas where otherwise it might have faded away. In 1952 an offer from the John Lewis Partnership was accepted and ownership transferred to John Lewis in the following year, although the store continued to operate under the Bainbridge brand alongside the words ''"A branch of the John Lewis Partnership"''. The John Lewis takeover allowed much needed capital investment into the store, making it into one of the leading department stores in the UK by 1974. In 1976 the store was relocated to the
Bainbridge's (company name Bainbridge & Co) was a major department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
in Eldon Square in the centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, England. The store, which is now branded as John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
Newcastle, moved to its current site in 1976, but the company dates back to 1838. It claimed to be the first true department store in the world, having begun recording weekly turnover separately by department in 1849. In 2002, after a vote by store employees, the owner John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
changed the official name to John Lewis Newcastle.
History
The store dates back to 1838, when Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge went into partnership with William Alder Dunn and opened a draper
Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.
History
Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...
s and fashion shop in Newcastle's Market Street. Despite success the two partners fell out and went their separate ways. Their partnership was dissolved in 1841.
In 1849 there were 23 separate departments, with weekly takings recorded by department, the basis for its claim to be the world's first true department store.Anne Pimlott Baker, ‘Bainbridge, Emerson Muschamp (1817–1892)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 201accessed 29 April 2011
/ref> This ledger survives and is now kept in the archives of the John Lewis Partnership. Emerson became the sole proprietor in 1855. By the 1870s there were more than forty retail departments. Emerson Bainbridge died in 1892 and his sons took over the business. In that same year, Bainbridge's employed a staff of 600 in Newcastle, and the store had 11,705 square yards of floor space. In 1897 the business became a private limited company. During the Depression, which hit the Newcastle area badly, the store introduced agents who operated in less prosperous areas, collecting payments in weekly instalments. This meant that people on low incomes could continue to buy from the shop and it kept the Bainbridge name and reputation known in areas where otherwise it might have faded away. In 1952 an offer from the John Lewis Partnership was accepted and ownership transferred to John Lewis in the following year, although the store continued to operate under the Bainbridge brand alongside the words ''"A branch of the John Lewis Partnership"''. The John Lewis takeover allowed much needed capital investment into the store, making it into one of the leading department stores in the UK by 1974. In 1976 the store was relocated to the
Eldon Square shopping centre
Eldon Square (stylised as EldonSq.) is a shopping centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1976 on the site of Old Eldon Square, a famous part of Georgian Newcastle designed by John Dobson in 1824. The centre was initially the la ...
in the city, and was at the time the largest John Lewis store outside London.
In 2002 further refurbishment took place, and in the same year (following a suggestion from the store partners) the store was re-branded as John Lewis.
At the time of its demise, the Bainbridge name was one of the longest continuously traded department store brands in the world.
References
Further reading
* {{coord, 54.975, -1.614, display=title Retail companies established in 1838 John Lewis Partnership Department stores of the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne 1838 establishments in England Newcastle upon Tyne