Griffin & Spalding
 Former Griffin and Spalding department store, Long Row, Nottingham 1919-20 and 1927 | |
| Company type | Private (1846–1944) Subsidiary (1944–1973) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retailing |
| Founded | 1846 |
| Founders | Edward and Robert Dickinson |
| Defunct | 1973 |
| Fate | Re-branded as Debenhams |
| Successor | Debenhams |
| Headquarters | Nottingham, United Kingdom |
| Products | Clothing and Department |
| Revenue | See parent company |
| See parent company | |
| Parent | Debenhams plc (1944–present) |
Griffin & Spalding was a department store located in Nottingham. It later became part of the Debenhams chain.
History
The store was started in 1846 by brothers Edward and Robert Dickinson as a drapery store on the corner of Market Street and Long Row.[1] The store changed hand before Messrs W. Griffin and J.T. Spalding purchased the business in 1878. Mr Spalding had trained at the well known London department store Marshall & Snelgrove, and by 1888 had grown the business sufficiently enough to expand the business by purchasing neighbouring stores in Market Street and Long Row.[1] In 1924, the stores façade was rebuilt by Bromley and Watkins[2] with Portland stone, which hid the different buildings that lay behind (in 1978 there were 37 trading floors!).[1]
The business continued to be managed by the Griffin and Spalding families, with William A & Harold Spalding and Percy Griffin, the sons of the original owners running the day-to-day business.[1] The company had a variety of department, selling furnishings, clothes and household goods with the promise of offering 10 shillings to the first person who informed them that a competitor was selling an item cheaper. Another part of the business was providing furniture and fittings to cinemas, with a factory on Rutland Street providing interiors for theatres such as the Savoy (on Derby Road) and the Curzon (Mansfield Road).[1]
In 1944 the family accepted an offer from Debenhams,[3] who continued to trade under the Griffin and Spalding name until 1973, when the business was changed to Debenhams as part of a national re-branding scheme.[1] The store has been refurbished three times under the management of Debenhams, firstly in 1951 followed by 1988 and 1998 and is still part of the Debenhams group.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Retailing - Notts Heritage Gateway.org". Retrieved 16 December 2014.
- ^ Harwood, Elain (1979). Pevsner Architectural Guides. Nottinghamshire. Yale University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0140710027.
- ^ "An agreement has been entered into". The Scotsman. Scotland. 11 February 1944. Retrieved 12 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.