Greenwoods was a chain of menswear stores with headquarters in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

History

The company was founded by (Sir) Willie Greenwood in 1860 as a

hatter Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners made and sold a range of accessories for clothing and hairstyles. ...

's shop in Bradford. At its peak in the 1990s there were around 200 branches of the store. In October 2008, a Chinese retailer expressed an interest in purchasing a 50% stake in the chain. However, whilst negotiations were made, the company was hit badly by the downturn in the Global and British economy in the last quarter of 2008. On 23 January 2009, Greenwoods entered

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

and a subsidiary of Harvest Fancy Hong Kong bought 87 of the 92 stores across the UK from the administrators. Prior to entering administration, Greenwoods had a turnover of £25.9 million and employed 579 people. Greenwoods had their headquarters in Albion Mills, Greengates, Bradford but have moved to newly built premises on the Shipley Airedale Road nearer the city centre.

2010-2018

By April 2011 there were 80 stores trading across the UK. Greenwoods was committed to improving and upgrading the image of its stores with an investment programme, funded by its parent company, Pacific Trend Investment. Accounting for 20 percent of the company's revenue, the 1860 brand was the second largest formal garment hire company in the UK. Greenwoods also introduced a slim-fit range of suits, shirts, ties and shoes under the 1860 brand. Greenwoods entered administration on 7 September 2017. In certain cases they have not forwarded any monies to the third party, ACS Clothing, even after receiving payment from customers and they are refusing to refund payments to their customers. It was announced on 2 January 2019 that the business was in liquidation, a little over 18 months since it previously fell into administration. All store branches and the online store ceased trading on 2 January 2019.

References

Retail companies established in 1860 Retail companies disestablished in 2019 Companies based in Bradford Hat companies Clothing retailers of England Clothing companies of England Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom {{UK-retail-company-stub