Morleys Stores is a group of eight

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 ...

s in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, a

business-to-business Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) refers to trade and commercial activity where a business sees other businesses as its customer base. This typically occurs when: * A business sources materials for its production process for ...

furniture supply subsidiary called Morley's of Bicester Ltd and a department store & furniture centre called Camp Hopson of Newbury in Newbury,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. The group is named after the original store that opened in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

, south London as Morley & Lanceley. On 18 March 2025 they announced the acquisition of the Jolly's department store in Milsom Street, Bath, one of the UK's oldest and scheduled to fully reopen after refurbishment in October 2026.

History

In 1854 Joseph Hopson opened a furniture business on West Street, Newbury. In 1886, Alfred Camp opened a drapery bazaar on Northbrook Street. The business ran as separate entities until 1920, when Paul Hopson, grandson of Joseph, married the daughter of Alfred, Norah, and the companies were merged to form Camp Hopson. In 1929, the Brixton store started selling contract furniture, eventually expanding and moving to Bicester. It acquired the similar businesses of Duncan Roberts Ltd in 2002 and Principal Furniture Ltd in 2005. The

Brixton Road Brixton Road is a road in the London Borough of Lambeth (south London, England), leading from the Oval at Kennington to Brixton, where it forms the high street and then forks into Effra Road and Brixton Hill at St Matthew's church at the junctio ...

shop originally traded as Morley & Lanceley. In 2009 Morleys bought Roomes Fashion and Home in Upminster and in 2010 it bought the Pearsons stores in Enfield and Bishop's Stortford. Smith Bros in Tooting was rebranded Morleys on 1 November 2010 and the Pearsons store in

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

, Hertfordshire closed during 2012. In November 2014, Morley's purchased Camp Hopson of Newbury which consists of a department store and furniture centre. In the year to January 2014 group profit was £5.6 million on turnover of £90.6 million. In November 2016, it was confirmed that Morleys had signed up for its ninth store, taking over the vacated former

British Home Stores British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, is an online store and formerly a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to exp ...

premises at Broadway Shopping Centre, Bexleyheath. The new store opened in spring 2017. In November 2023, the company made a £5.5 million investment in chocolate café chain

Knoops Chocolate Knoops, (pronounced "kuh-noops"), is a British chocolate café chain and retailer based in London, England. The business operates a chain of cafes known for its hand-crafted chocolate drinks. The chain was launched in 2013 and, as of January 2 ...

. In March 2025 it was announced that Morleys had taken on the lease of the former Jolly's department store in Bath, which had been closed by its prior owners the previous year.

Operations

Morleys is a member of the

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

-based Associated Independent Stores buying group, the supplier of non-food goods to 350 companies with about 600 small and medium-sized independent outlets with textile and other non-food goods. List of current Morleys Group stores as of 2025. Morleys *

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...

(formerly Smith Bros of Tooting) Other branding * Pearsons (Located in Enfield) * Selby's (Located in Holloway) (Formerly James Selby) * Camp Hopson (Located in Newbury) * Roomes (Located in

Upminster Upminster is a suburb of east London, England, in the London Borough of Havering, northeast of Charing Cross. Historically a rural village, it formed an ancient parish in the Chafford hundred of the county of Essex. The economic history of ...

) * Elys (Located in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

) Defunct * Bodgers (Located in

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

) (Closed in 2018) Planned reopening * Jolly's (located in Bath)

References