Brightwells was a department store in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, England. The store was founded by John Rumbelow Brightwell and opened on the city's High Street in the 19th century as a

drapery Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles (Old French , from Late Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Late Latin ). It ma ...

. This became a department store which was incorporated in 1909 as J.R. Brightwell Ltd. Its direct competitors were Keddies, J F Dixons and Thomas Brothers. John Brightwell had been an alderman of the

county borough of Southend-on-Sea County Borough of Southend-on-Sea was a local government district around the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. South End, as it was originally known was initially some fishermen's huts at the south end of the village of Prittlew ...

and twice the Mayor of Southend. The business was sold to Percy & Francis Barnes in 1925. A year later John Brightwell died, at the age of 78. The store closed in the late 1970s and the building, which had 12,200 square foot of space over four floors, was purchased for £250,000 by Ketts Electrical in 1979. Ketts Electrical closed in the 1980s after it was purchased by Rumbelows. The Store remained empty in 1980s, however a gym opened on the 2nd floor. The store was home to the

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

until 2015, when both the gym and store were vacated to make way for an apartment development called the Drapery, named in reference to Brightwells.

References

Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Department stores in Southend-on-Sea (town) Buildings and structures in Southend-on-Sea Department store buildings in the United Kingdom Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Southend-on-Sea {{UK-retail-company-stub