John Lewis Reading
Encyclopedia
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
in Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. Until 2001, the store was known as Heelas, and that name is still in common usage. The store fronts on to Reading's main pedestrianised shopping street, Broad Street
Broad Street, Reading
Broad Street is a main pedestrianised thoroughfare and the primary high street in the English town of Reading. The street is situated in the town centre, running for approximately , from west to east. The western end of the road lies at the crossroads with Oxford Road, West Street and St Mary's...
, and backs onto Minster Street and The Oracle
The Oracle, Reading
The Oracle is a large indoor shopping and leisure mall, located on the banks of the River Kennet on the site of a 17th century workhouse of the same name in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire...
shopping centre. The store belongs to the John Lewis Partnership
John Lewis Partnership
The John Lewis Partnership is an employee-owned UK partnership which operates John Lewis department stores, Waitrose supermarkets and a number of other services...
.
History
Heelas started in Reading with just one small shop at 33 Minster Street. John Heelas, who already had a shop in WokinghamWokingham
Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...
, set up the new business in 1854 with his sons, John and Daniel. They described themselves as 'Linen and Woollen Drapers, Silk Mercers etc..'. Over the years they acquired adjacent properties and by 1877 the business had become a department store.
In 1897 the family firm became a public company, Heelas Sons and Co. Ltd, and in 1890 the House of Heelas was appointed Linen Drapers and House Furnishers to the then Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
. This warrant was continued on his accession to the throne as King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
.
The shop was rebuilt in 1907 and the Directors were confident that the 'handsome well-arranged buildings would add to the great comfort of the customers'. Both John and Daniel Heelas died in 1910 and their successors, John Heelas Junior and Edward Heelas, inherited a thriving business. Heelas became a major entity in Reading, and in 1937, the John Lewis Partnership entered into takeover discussions with the department store. These did not work out and in 1947 Heelas was sold to Charles Clore
Charles Clore
Sir Charles Clore was a British financier, retail and property magnate and philanthropist.-Career:Charles Clore owned, through Sears Holdings, the British Shoe Corporation and Selfridges department store, as well as investing heavily in property.He owned Jowett Cars Ltd from 1945-1947 where he was...
. He disposed of it three years later to United Drapery Stores
United Drapery Stores
United Drapery Stores, or UDS, was a British retail group that dominated the British high street from the 1950s to the 1980s.-Early history:The group was founded in 1927 and from the outset sought to grow through the takeover of other companies. The company started with five department stores in...
who, in turn, finally sold it to the John Lewis Partnership in 1953. Throughout these changes, the store continued to trade as Heelas.
At the time of John Lewis's takeover, the store was the largest shop in Berkshire, however with ongoing expansion the shop eventually became seen as too small and in need of expansion. The building work started in December 1979 and was split into three phases allowing the shop to continue trading throughout the period. While the front (Broad Street) half of the store dating from 1907 was little changed, the earlier rear (Minster Street) half was demolished and replaced with a new five story building complete with atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
. The work was completed by November 1985.
In 1999 a major new shopping and leisure centre, The Oracle, opened behind the store. Among its many shops it houses department stores from Debenhams
Debenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
and House of Fraser
House of Fraser
House of Fraser is a British department store group with over 60 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891 it was known as Fraser & Sons. The company grew steadily during the early 20th century, but after the Second...
, thus increasing the level of competition in Reading. In September 2001, as part of a wider company rebranding, the store's name was changed from Heelas to John Lewis. All the in-store and external signage was changed, but the name Heelas can still be seen where it was built into the external brickwork of the 1979 building. Locally, the name Heelas is still more commonly used than John Lewis. The rename caused some local controversy, as some people felt the town was losing a part of its history.
On 9 February 2007, the store was awarded a Royal Warrant
Royal Warrant
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, so lending prestige to the supplier...
by Her Majesty The Queen. This allows John Lewis Reading to display The Queen's coat of arms, together with the words "By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, Suppliers of Household and Fancy Goods", on the store's building, vehicles and stationery.
The store is currently going through a major refurbishment